For us at Pathfinders, new year’s resolutions aren’t something we do. We feel that they just set us up to fail. We start a new year’s resolution and then quit in few months in. When we fall off and fail at a goal, it can make us feel bummed out. Or, if we make a new year’s resolution, give up a couple of months later, and don’t really care, it means that we don’t take our goals seriously.
That doesn’t mean that we should not try to do something we want or try to be our best. It’s important to set goals. Goals to do things that we want to do, or to improve our life are always good to work on, but we can make them anytime, we don’t always have to wait for the new year.
Writing down goals helps to make them real. Setting a goal, and adding steps to your daily to do list, can help you get it done. Tools like Life Plans and Vision Boards can help you pick a goal and figure out the steps to get there. Setting a goal with a target date can help motivate you. Writing down your goal, and going back to look at it, can help keep you on track.
Some goals that we are working on might have other people involved, or they may be something that we are doing on our own. The toughest part about making and working on a goal is motivation. When the goal involves others, sometimes we might need to be the cheerleader. Sometimes we will need someone to help us. No matter what that goal is, we should share them with somebody we trust. Someone who will cheer us on and support us.
Some of the goals that we as a team have worked on for ourselves, have been to take better care of ourselves or take trips. One of our team set a goal to travel across the country to visit family. They were a little scared, but with help from their family, they were able to take the trip, have a great time with family, on the east coast.
One of the things that all our individual goals all have in common is that they all need work. We must set some time aside, and sometimes give up something we like, to meet our goal.
Sometimes those goals are for very big things, or small. For a big goal it is a good idea to break it up into some smaller goals, and to do over them over a shorter period of time. By following the steps, you carry out parts of the bigger goal, and it feels good. You feel like “I can do this”. It feels like whatever you are working on is possible.
When we have reached goals, like flying across the country, or dropping some weight, and we get those experiences and results we want, it changes us for the better. Accomplishing goals can help us learn more about ourselves and improve our lives. It’s a positive change that we can feel, and others can see in us.
If you only wait for the right time to do something, it may never happen. The right time to make something happen is now. Don’t procrastinate. Accomplishing a goal will give you confidence. With each step you get done to achieve your goal, it motivates you to keep going. When you see the results, you feel better. When you feel better, you will live better.
