The best part about a new year is the inspiration to set new goals, the motivation to work diligently to achieve them and the feeling of invincibility against any obstacle or struggle that the next 365 days might hold.
Don’t get me wrong—setting resolutions and aspiring to make a change is great, but the eagerness of “new year, new me” has as much potential to set yourself up for failure as it does to supply you with a platform for success.
The biggest mistake of the year can be made during the first month if you place unrealistic expectations on yourself and the unfortunate reality is there is no point of setting such big goals if they will not be accomplished.
You are certainly capable of doing what you set your mind to as long as you don’t bite off more than you can chew. It’s important that at the beginning of the year, you assess yourself, situations and the year ahead of you and base your goals on those components.
Part of my resolutions for the year included fitness and finances. I know that I am not a fit or active person who can make it to the gym five days out of the week. Instead of deciding to set that goal of working out five times a week, I made it a point to go at least twice in a week. If I can do that, I will be achieving my goal; if I go more than twice a week, then I’m overachieving and that can give me leverage to set my goal higher as the year continues
to go on.
Setting financial goals was difficult. I had to sit down and look at my monthly expenses, anticipate future paychecks and set boundaries for spending so that by the end of each month, I had the amount of money in my bank account I aimed to have.
Even though I would like to have a certain amount of money, I had to make realistic financial goals for myself based on pay, hours and my monthly spending.
Sometimes, a new year doesn’t always mean a new you, but it can always mean an improved you. Do yourself a favor and set the possible goals so that when the year ends and you look back, you can say you achieved what you wanted or that you surpassed more than you anticipated and even accomplished what you thought was impossible.
