5 tips to help you achieve your New Year’s goals

by Tracy McNeil

One way to be more specific about planning and goal setting for the New Year is, instead of seeing it as one whole year, shift your perception and see it as 365 brand new, strategic opportunities! That makes it feel lighter already!

A New Year is coming and sometimes when we think about a New Year we think about it as one big increment of time. We devise an overall plan to fill a year that may end up being too broad, scattered and junky or even failure in disguise. Sometimes planning a new year can seem overwhelming because we’re trying to incorporate all the things we didn’t accomplish before into what we should have accomplished better and then we add desired accomplishments on top of that. Your plans may look more like an awkward wish list. Those plans have a tendency to lose their “January Drive” around March 1st or sooner. Who does that?! Most have.

One way to be more specific about planning and goal setting for the New Year is, instead of seeing it as one whole year, shift your perception and see it as 365 brand new, strategic opportunities! That makes it feel lighter already! Looking at it from that perspective allows you to expand and add detail to your plans and goals in succession. When you see that a year is a set of days you can govern them more easily and consistently chart your progress. This shift in consciousness can allow you to have the excitement and realization that each day is made for you to create a plan for it and achieve your goals in more attainable segments. This way you can self-correct more easily and have more consistent achievements.

As you embark upon this New Year you can begin practicing your daily planning skills now that can later extend into weekly and even monthly strategies. So as you are making plans and setting goals there are five important things that are imperative for success and achievement:

1.  Realize the year or a day is only as new as you are! Make a concerted effort to see each day with a fresh set of eyes. Bringing an old mentality into a new way of thinking can distort your vision. Don’t be afraid to be different, discover, change or ask for help.

2.  Understand that plans and goals can be two different things. Goal setting allows your plan to have specific end results. Plans are the end results of what you want to do or be and goals are how you are going to get it done.

3.  Create your plans and goals with a clear sense of purpose. Take time to answer the who, what, when, where, why and how. Even if you don’t know all the answers yet at least formulate strategic questions. You have to ask questions to get answers.

4.  Be very familiar and specific with what you want to accomplish. Randomly listing things that don’t connect or aren’t relevant to your purpose can confuse your efforts and waste time. Being specific allows you to build strategy, create direction and take appropriate action.

5.  Decide not to label your days with societal impressions. No more “Blue Mondays” or “Rainy Days” mentality. Don’t give your day a predetermined sentence and you do not have to accept negative those impressions. Better days ahead can include all of them, so don’t discriminate because each day can be the beginning of a fine opportunity.

In order to plan a successful year, employ each day as a helper and incorporate these five strategic principles. Decide, create and follow through with your plan because nothing consistently great happens without one and set goals. How else will you be conscious of what you are achieving?

Don’t live each day as if it sneaks up on you like a wandering stranger, you have 365 of them so make a plan because, God willing, you know it’s coming!  Don’t let your days or year roam without the beauty of vision and the discipline of direction. You are about to about to experience a year jam-packed with 365 moments of opportunity. You can start with a day, today is good!

Enjoy happy new days and Happy New Year!

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Tracy McNeil (TracyMac) is a Life Coach who specializes in Self Discovery and Spirituality. She assists you in discovering your purpose, or “Reason for Being”, which is the foundational treasure that abundantly provides for every aspect of your life.

 

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.

One comment

  1. Make the days in the year count to get the best out of the new yeat.

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