5 Steps to Kickstart Your New Year Goals

We’ve all made new years resolutions before and like the stereotype, most us fail before we’ve even begun.

We aim high, achieve low and end up feeling even worse as a result of this.

Well this year is going to be different for you!

The difference this year is we’re going to plan our goals out, not just make them up.

They’ll be objective, structured and we’re going to lean into our existing habits to ensure we stay on point and these actually come to life.

This is 5 simple steps to ensure your goals become reality this year.

1.Make them Motivating! 

If it’s not something that gets you fired up and has you leaping out of bed in the morning, it’s not a goal that’s worthwhile to you. It may be a great goal for one person, but that’s not for you. Stay in your own lane and only list a goal if it something you are truly passionate about achieving for yourself. 

2.Keep them S.M.A.R.T.

You may have heard of the S.M.A.R.T. principles in relation to goal setting and for good reason, it works!

Specific:

The goal must be very clear and detailed. It should be obvious to anyone exactly what you’re trying to achieve. Being vague will only hinder your progress so get specific.

Measurable:

Something you can objectively measure and see if it’s been accomplished or not. For example instead of a goal of “lose some weight” you would change that to ‘lose 5kg of body weight”.

Achievable:

We want our goals to challenge us, but not be so hard that they’re impossible to achieve. Particularly when it comes to having goals in multiple areas of life, we want to set numbers we can strive for and crush!

Realistic:

Along the lines of achievement, our goals should be something that we can realistically achieve in the given timeframe with the resources we have available to us. Losing 5kg in a week would be a monumental task and near impossible, however, losing 5kg over the next 3 months is something far more realistic and will build the habit of achieving our goals. This is vital in creating momentum which is the real secret sauce of successful people!

Time-Bound:

Every goal needs a timeline for achievement. SImple saying “lose a few kilos’ isn’t going to motivate anyone. However if that was to lose 5kg by December 4th to fit into my dream wedding dress, now we have some motivation to succeed!

3.Write Them Down

This is simple but just the action of writing down your goals and intentions for the year has a powerful effect on our brains. To increase the effectiveness of this, even more, carry that piece of paper (yes, old school but the most powerful way) around with you in your phone/wallet to keep you conscious of your goals.

4.Make an Action Plan

Goals without action are like a boat without a motor, you need some input to get these goals going! Something we highly recommend is utilizing time blocking to ensure you have time pre-allocated within your schedule to crush your goals. 

If this is a training goal is could be something along the lines of “I will train 5 x a week for one hour at Spartans Gym straight after work”. Not only is this specific and location-based, but it also has you doing one task you want to do directly after a task you’re already doing which further increases your chances of success.

Break your big goals down into smaller ones and give yourself a pat on the back when you reach one of the checkpoints, it means you’re one step closer to achieving your big goal.

5.Stay the Course!

This is the simplest, but also the most important of all the steps. We’ve set up our goals, have a plan in place to achieve them and now it’s time to do the work. No one’s coming to save us, it’s on you to create your own vision. 

Schedule regular check-ins with yourself (or an accountability partner such as a friend/training partner/family member or significant other) to ensure you’re doing the work and staying on point.

There’s a certain amount of power that comes from knowing you’re going to be checked in on and no one enjoys being the only one who hasn’t done what they said they would.