Simple Guide to Setting Realistic Goals for the New Year

The New Year is the perfect time to start fresh. If there’s any aspect of your life that you’d like to improve, set some clear and attainable goals for yourself that will help you get there.

Take It Slow

Work towards your goal one piece at a time. It’s important to take it slow and not take on too much at once. The main reason that some people fail when it comes to their New Year’s goals is because they fail to plan out a realistic path.

Follow Through With a Plan

It’s easy to say: “I want to lose 50 pounds” or “I want to learn a musical instrument.” Keep in mind that big goals like these will take some time and effort. Diets are hard to start because you may feel unmotivated or hungry. Musical instruments require time to master, and you may start with weeks of just learning notes before getting to any fun melodies.

Remember that the beginning is tough. Muster up the courage and enthusiasm to continue with your efforts. Remember that most people give up, but you’re not most people, are you?

You’re different because, unlike most people, you’re going to create a clear and realistic plan to take you right to success. If you’re going to lose 50 pounds, define how you’re going to lose those pounds. Are you starting an exercise routine? Are you going to join Weight Watchers or count calories?

You know that you won’t lose the weight quickly; it’s a steady loss that brings success. Even if you’re short a couple of pounds on one of your short-term goals, you can revise your plan and kick up the pace, or just continue on your path because you’ll reach your 50 pound goal before the year is out. That’s what you’ll be able to accomplish with a solid plan in place.

Be Real

You have to stay realistic when it comes to your New Year’s goals. The holidays are a joyful time, and often times you’ll feel motivated to achieve something big. Know that you can achieve big things, but there are also only 24 hours in a day.

Avoid making goals that would take more than a year to complete. If you want to make a long-term goal like this, break it up into parts and give yourself a realistic plan for your first year goal.

Visualize the Outcome

When you run into snags in the road, as you’re bound to in life from time to time, it will help to visualize yourself reaching your end goal. Visualizing it makes it feel real and motivates you to continue to work hard to make it happen.

The Right Attitude

If you’re practicing the right attitude, you can go far. It’s true that all you need to do is believe in yourself. You’ve probably realized that if you don’t believe that you can accomplish something, you simply won’t. How can you expect to achieve great things if you don’t believe in yourself?

An optimistic attitude is critical to your success. Think about how you felt when you first set your New Year’s goal. Chances are that you had an excellent attitude, so try to maintain that mindset throughout your journey to success with your goal.

Once you’ve determined a realistic goal and divided it up into short, achievable tasks, you’re bound for success as long as you take action to complete each step. Go ahead and make that New Year’s resolution, knowing that this year is going to be your most successful yet!

Creating a Life Filled With Success

Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. – Albert Schweitzer

 
According to Dictionary.com success is the achievement of something desired, planned or attempted.  Maybe you have friends or family members who have achieved immense success in their lives and you find yourself wishing you could have that the same?  Does thinking about them fill you with envy toward the people who you perceive to  “everything” they want? 

Most of us experience these feelings from time to time, but instead of letting  envy and resentment  make you feel miserable and negative, remember,  you’re in control, create your own success.  After all, you are the only person who has power over how you define “success.” So instead of spending your time feeling jealous, you can spend time creating and acknowledging your own success.

Creating Success for Yourself

Many people spend their lives wondering when success is going to magically appear at their door but, of course, it never happens this way.  If, instead, you spend less time dreaming and more time building, you’d be much happier and success will be well within our grasp.

Rather than waiting passively for success to whisk you away, it’s time to create your own version of success. When you are proactively taking steps every day, you have a better chance of realizing your goals. After all, it’s far more productive than watching other people achieve success.

A great way to create the successful life you have always hoped for is to set clear, actionable goals. How do you want your life to be defined? What do you want to be doing a year from now, five years from now, or even ten years from now? What sort of goals can you set for yourself that will help motivate you and keep you going in the right direction so you can reach out and grab what you want?

You will want to make sure the goals you set are attainable. The best way to do this is to start with short-term goals that help you work towards your long-term goals. This will help you move forward and build momentum without becoming discouraged. Besides, it’ll help to keep your eye on the prize.  If you set goals that are too ambitious, you will be more inclined to give up before you even get started.

Building a “Success!” Attitude

Your attitude and thoughts determine your success, so make sure they are congruent.  If you have some negative or self-defeating inner dialogues, it will be much more difficult for you to achieve your goals and build the life of success you have always wanted.  That’s why it’s a good idea to use the power of positive affirmations to propel you forward.

Affirmations can help people from all walks of life reach great success, even if they started out in the lowest of low places. So remember that success isn’t limited to the rich and famous!

Having a list of affirmations on hand can help you overcome those moments of self-doubt, envy, or even anger that you may feel toward others.  Affirmations are simple thoughts like, “Each simple, completed task propels me towards success,” or, “I am worthy of great success.” These affirmations help to remind you of what your goals are and, in turn, remind you that you are worthy of all you desire, and more!

Getting Your Project Done Quickly and Effectively

Think about this for a minute.  Did you know that you are capable of a lot more than you are doing now? Tapping into the entire power of your brain is something you can easily learn with practice. By doing this, you can harness the power of your mind to complete tasks and go about your life with ease. When you tap into your total mental capacity you will learn how to focus on what really counts so you can get more done promptly and efficiently.  

 
 Tapping Into the Full Power of Your Brain

 
 Do you ever complete a project and then do it over again when you realized you made many silly little mistakes? Most of the time we laugh at ourselves and wonder what we were thinking, but it sure would be nice to get things done in one try without having to re-do tasks over and over again. 

 
 This is all the more reason we need to constantly improve our mind so we can accomplish things faster with the least amount of effort. 

 
 Turn off the Distracting Mental Chatter

 
 The first thing you need to do when you want to tap into your full brainpower is turn off the noise. The reference to noise isn’t necessarily the music playing in the room or the television you have on in the background – it’s the noise in your mind! All of the negative thoughts and concerns that distract you and take you away from your concentration are all mental noises. Turn off the noise when you need to harness all your energy to complete a difficult task. Any time a thought misdirects you, immediately write it down, and get back on task.

 
 Make a Prioritized List

 
 The next strategy is to prioritize the items you really need to do right away. Being able to create a plan of attack will help you use all of your mental abilities when you need them the most. You will be able to focus on the task at hand when you know that everything has its place on paper. This will enable you to devote your brainpower to what you are doing so you can enjoy your work without worrying about what’s up ahead. You’ll also be more efficient and effective when it comes to completing the tasks in front of you since everything will have its own time and place.

 
 Using the Power of Positive Thinking

 
 Positive thinking techniques are another great way to tap into your brainpower. For example, if you use affirmations, you will be able to turn off the negative inner dialogue that you have running through your head and replace it with positive thoughts to keep you moving forward. 

 
 Many of us don’t realize how ineffective negative thoughts make us. These thoughts can distract us and keep us from doing the things we want or need to do. An affirmation such as, “My lasting success is my focus” can help you tap into your confidence so you can get things done. Over time, using positive thinking techniques will turn off any negative thoughts so you can tap into the power of your mind to accomplish more and reach greater levels of success.

Stress Less Now

Stress affects each of us differently, and the most effective ways to relieve it are different for each person. You can try different methods to find out which ones work best for you. Some techniques for relieving stress include:

Self-help:

Exercise. Regular physical activity is one of the most effective stress management techniques.
Write. Research shows that expressing yourself in writing can be a very effective way to reduce your stress level.
Express your feelings. Talking, laughing, crying, and expressing anger are normal parts of the emotional healing process.
Do something you enjoy. A hobby or other healthy leisure activity that is meaningful to you can help you relax. Volunteer work or work that helps others can be a powerful stress reliever.
Body-centered relaxation. This includes deep breathing exercises, muscle relaxation exercises, yoga, and relaxation exercises such as tai chi.
Mindfulness activities. These include learning how to relax your body through meditation, imagery exercises, listening to relaxing music, and using humor to reduce stress.
Get Professional assistance. In some cases, self-help approaches are not enough. You may benefit from professional assistance. A qualified professional can help you pinpoint the causes of your stress, and develop appropriate coping strategies.

Feel free to leave a comment below.  Let me know what YOU think!