5 Ways To Do Your 2020 Goals BETTER!

Happy new year! I love this time of year! The ambition is contagious, and everyone is excited to start something new, in hopes to improve their lives. We all make a list of 20 huge goals to tackle, and they usually go a little something like this:

• Lose 50 pounds!
• Exercise more!
• Eat less!
• Pay off all my debt!
• Save up for Disney vacation!
• Stop shopping!
• Get a raise at work!
• Get a side hustle!
• Spend more time with family!
• More self-care!

So you spend the first two weeks of January eating salads, running on the treadmill, pinching pennies, paying credit cards, working hard, scheduling a date night with your significant other, and squeezing in a bubble bath at the end of it.

Then what happens? This list you made gets lost in a junk drawer or deserted in the fancy planner you bought and swore you would use to accomplish all these goals.

And you know what? That’s okay! It happens to all of us! There are ways to make your goals work for you, and you can implement them now to help save yourself from feeling bad about not accomplishing your goals next year! Here are my tips to help you succeed!

1.Focus on habits that will lead to the end goal

If you haven’t read Atomic Habits by James Clear, throw it on your Audible or Amazon wish list! We reach goals by using habits as stepping stones to lead us there. James Clear explains all the moving parts of a habit so you can set yourself up for success while not feeling overwhelmed. One thing he says is that habits have an “entry point”, or an action necessary to begin that habit, such as turning on your computer to start writing that blog post or putting on your running shoes to get ready to run. If you can get yourself to take that small step, you’ll feel accomplished and it will encourage you to complete the bigger task.

2. Spread your goals out over the year

I made this mistake last year. I gave myself the goals of writing 24 blog posts in the year, making 100 clipart sets in the year, and teaching 100 classes each month. Can you guess which one I accomplished? I taught 100 classes each month, but I didn’t get anywhere near the 100 clipart sets or 24 blog posts. I just kept looking at those numbers and figured I still have plenty of time! Make your goals weekly, monthly, and quarterly. My goals this year are to write two blog posts per month and create five new products or clipart sets per month. This especially helps after that “new year’s motivation” wears off!

3. You don’t need 342 goals

It might feel great in the beginning to see how much you want to accomplish, but six months later when you realized you haven’t even started 18 of them, you’re going to feel bad about yourself and lose all motivation. Narrow your focus to what you TRULY want and put all your planning and effort into those few. This is another trap people easily fall into. They have goals they really want to accomplish, but they’re scared that they won’t, so they busy themselves with trivial goals instead, and then they never try for the big ones. Don’t be afraid! Take the steps and go for it!

4. Picture your end goal and work backwards

What steps got you there? This is the easiest way to map out your plan to reach your goal. Write your ultimate goal at the bottom of your paper. Then, think of each step that needs to be reached to get to the next step. Now you have your plan and a checklist to cross off as you accomplish all those things!

5. Why haven’t you accomplished this goal yet?

Think about the reasons and come up with ways to combat them. We all have new year’s goals and resolutions from years past that we haven’t finished. What happened? What stood in your way? How can you eliminate that possibility from popping up again? How can you prepare yourself for the things that might derail you? Write a list of ways you can stay on track so you’re ready when they come, and you know they will!

I hope these five goal setting tips help you set yourself up for success in this BRAND NEW DECADE! Don’t forget to be patient with yourself and feel proud for ALL of your accomplishments, big and small! Every little action leads to a difference!