New Year's Resolutions and Goals
Guest User
This is a guest post by Jess Parker. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor - Associate, supervised by David B. Martin, MA, LPC-S at Martin Counseling. Find out more about her here.
As we start a brand New Year, goals can be at the forefront of our minds. Have you ever set a resolution and started out strong, yet a few weeks later the resolution is a distant memory?
Here are some tips to help keep this year's resolutions, whether it’s fitness, wealth, career, relationship, or otherwise.
Understand where it is you are trying to get to…. Many people start out on goals with enthusiasm and vigor, but without an explicit endpoint, the goal seems unachievable
Set a timeline…. goals without timeframes become frustrating, and open us up to stalling, and eventually giving up. Whether your timeline is a week, a month, or even a year, try to put a rough time frame on your goals.
Write down your goals on a timeline and check in to document your progress…having a visual of your progress can really help boost your motivation and keep you on track.
Create goals that are achievable….in our enthusiasm to improve ourselves we can make unrealistic goals that don’t necessarily fit our lifestyles or enable us to grow in a healthy way. Not achieving a goal because it is unrealistic sets us up for feeling bad about ourselves.
A quick way to access our goals is a tool borrowed from the field of education. Remember to make your goals SMART: Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic Timely.
If you or someone you love need help with goals and would like to work with a counselor, here are some options in our area:
http://www.martincounseling.com/us/