Firstly, I want to wish you a Happy New Year!
I hope that you’re feeling inspired, motivated and excited about the year ahead and what the future holds?
In truth, the transition between December 31st and January 1st is really only another day of the year, just one that we humans mark as a special day due the Gregorian calendar that most people in the West follow!
And I do think it’s very healthy to have an opportunity to look back on the past year, to celebrate and learn from what happened, so that you can then look forward to the next up-coming year and create some plans, visions, goals and dreams for yourself.
Setting goals and creating a vision for yourself and your life, however big or small, is important.
I believe I’ve mentioned this before in a previous blog, but there is a famous quote that says:
“A person without a vision for the future, will always return to their past.”
Our mind likes to wander, it often needs to go somewhere, people love to ruminate … If that weren’t the case then the concept of ‘mindfulness’ wouldn’t be so popular because if we didn’t go into the past or future, we’d simply be in the present moment – a.k.a mindfulness!
So, it would make sense that if you haven’t got plans or ideas for something you want for your future, you will then tend to go to your past memories more when your mind wanders.
Or you may feel flat and uninspired or at worst anxious about the future because you don’t feel in control and you’re waiting for ‘whatever’ comes your way!
As the other saying goes:
‘Don’t let life pass you by’
Sometimes going back to your past is a lovely thing to do, we all have fond memories of happy times that we can pull up in our mind’s eye. But where it’s not so good is when we’re looking back in regret or ruminating over so-called ‘mistakes’ or ‘lost time’.
However, if you have visions and goals for your future that you’re serious about then it makes complete sense that your mind will go there more often than looking back because you’re feeling motivated, inspired and excited about what’s to come. Your mind is engaged in moving forward, advancing and creating.
The key is of course that you’re also acting on your dreams and goals.
If you have goals but you’re not actively pursuing them in some way, then you’re likely to go back to the past in regret! For example you might look back at your very recent past and think to yourself, ‘I was going to start XYZ last week, but I haven’t yet … ‘
… This will lead to not only looking back more than forward, but also negative thoughts and feelings towards yourself … And in the worst case, it will foster a lack of self-trust, which is something so insidious and destructive that I’m dedicating my next blog to this subject, so make sure you look out for that!
It’s a very uncomfortable place to be when you want to achieve something but for no significant reason you’re simply not doing it.
So, my first piece of advice to mark the new year, would be to make sure you have some goals in your life!
They could be as small as clearing out your old clothes or learning some new recipes or to complain less … Or they can be big, audacious goals – it all depends on what matters most to YOU.
(As a side-note here, the goal to stop complaining could actually be classed as a big, audacious goal because it can have a major positive effect on a person’s life and everyone around them!!)
My second piece of advice is to generally make them a ‘smart’ goal.
You’ve probably heard of ‘smart’ goals before. The concept has been around for many years and is a tool that you can use to plan and achieve personal, professional or business goals.
Smart goals is an acronym that stands for:
S – specific (So you know exactly what you want to achieve and have to do)
M – measurable (So you can track your progress and stay motivated)
A – achievable (Your goal needs to be realistic even if you are stretching yourself)
R – relevant (Your goal needs to matter, the timing needs to be right etc)
T – timed-based (The goal needs a deadline, so you have something to work towards)
When planning out a goal in this way, you are statistically MUCH more likely to follow through on your goals and therefore achieve them.
Now, you don’t have to set ‘smart’ goals of course, you can go with the wind and trust that at some point this year you will achieve your goals.
But I can tell you from personal experience that if there’s something you really want to achieve then forward planning and accountability are your best friends.
As a side note here, if you’re already an avid planner, make sure you’re not taking on too much – which is again where smart goals help when you get to A for is this goal achievable!
So, in keeping this simple and if you haven’t already – create a list of 10 goals for 2019.
… Once you’ve done with that, go through the ‘smart’ goal process with each one.
I’d recommend you get out your calendar so that you can make sure you’re creating a realistic plan over the course of the year. You could even ask a friend, loved one or mentor to go through it all with you, as it’s always good to have someone else to sense check things and offer a different perspective.
What would then help you even further is to have something like a wall planner so that you can get a good picture of how your year will look and you can clearly see when you’ll be working on your goals and by when.
I know that this is pretty basic information and there’s nothing innovative about what I’m sharing with you today, however I wanted to remind you of the basics because it is amazing how many people either don’t set goals at all or if they do, they set themselves up to either fail or make it much harder for themselves by missing out the detailed planning stage.
… And, as I mention above; lack of goals or lack of realising your goals leads to all kinds of negative thoughts and feelings and often then negative behaviours – whereas forward momentum in life leads to feelings overall satisfaction.
Promoting well-being is always my main driver with the information that I share in these emails. So with the above in mind, you can say that if you create goals and plan them out properly and then go on to achieve them, that this is undoubtedly good for your overall well-being!
Here’s to a happy, healthy and abundant 2019!
Love,
Kate x
