This time of year is a perfect time to take the opportunity for personal reflections and setting new goals and intentions. Many call it New Year’s Resolutions, but I believe you can set new goals at anytime of the year. I actually started the biggest goal ever last year during the week of Thanksgiving. Without going into too much detail, I set a goal to have one dessert a week. (If you’d like to know more, shoot me an email!) Yup, I DID set this goal at the beginning of the holidays! Not only do I have the biggest sweet tooth and would eat dessert constantly if I could, all the holiday treats were arriving at my door, so this is a goal that I never thought I would be able to stick to, much less accomplish. But, with the help of my amazing coach, one year later I still continue to have only one dessert a week.

 

Throughout the year, I would reflect on this goal and … well … one goal lead to another that lead to another and 30 pounds lighter (yay me!) I am still making new goals throughout the year. While making goals might be the “thing to do” during this season, don’t forget you can actually make them at anytime, just like I did. Another important thing to remember at the end of the year? Reflect on how far you’ve come! Too often, we get caught up in the goals we didn’t accomplish or the goals we’ve yet to set … I do it all the time. I’ve learned how important it is to take a step back, reflect, congratulate myself and then reassess. Here are a few tips on how and why this is an important part of goal setting and some of my favorite tools to help me stay on track.

I think the most important thing we forget is to look back and see what we have accomplished and congratulate ourselves on this. It’s way too easy to be hard on ourselves. It takes a conscious effort to look back at all the things we actually accomplished. Chances are you have accomplished more than you think. I know there’s been a lot this year, but in the moment I’ll admit I forget. So sit down and take a few minutes to jot down at least 3 accomplishments you’ve had this year. Now … celebrate these and give yourself a pat on the back for a job well done! Bonus tip: I do this daily as I journal. I write down 3 things I am proud of from the day before.

 

Who starts their list with the biggest intentions of making all kinds of change? I do, I do! But then over time, all those best intentions fall by the wayside. I’m guilty of this every day! Whether it be my todo list or my goals, my list is usually more than what is realistic. Haha! But with the help of my Day Designer planner (I highly recommend this), I see what I can truly accomplish and what goals I can actually achieve by writing them down. Remember, goals can’t be achieved unless we lay the foundation to make them happen. While it’s important to set those big goals, don’t forget that it’s those small ones that build up to the big ones. You can’t change or do everything at once. I didn’t instantly lose 30 pounds, it took a whole year. I started with one dessert a week, then walking 10k steps, then lowering my calories and now I am doing bootcamp. It was the combined effort that made it possible. I should also share that I didn’t reach my goal for the end of the year, but I’m so proud of what I have done that it doesn’t matter. This is the time to look back and see what worked and what didn’t, without judgement. Just an honest acknowledgment of what didn’t work and set about making adjustments to realign yourself to make it work in the future. Think of it as something new you learned about what you can do differently to achieve those goals in the future. Make a list of your goals ( I set goals for myself professionally, personally, financially, healthy and with relationships) … go ahead, write them down…all of them… big or small. Then decide what’s worth keeping and what needs ditching. I do this with my daily todo list as well. I write down everything that needs to be done and then what I think I can actually accomplish in one day.

Now it’s time to review. Do your goals (professionally and personally) align with the kind of life you want to live? My starting goal was to actually be more fit and I have to say I have achieved that and continue working towards a fitter me, but then it grew into other goals and that’s ok. Remember you can reset and reassess goals at anytime, not just at the end of the year. Do your goals get you to one step closer to the person you aspire to be? I didn’t necessarily want to become a health nut, that isn’t in alignment with who I am (at least for the moment), but I did want to be more fit and healthy. I still have my cheat day and I don’t live at the gym, but I am stronger and more fit and I have a healthier relationship with food.

 

Here are some of my favorite tools that I use for goal setting and journaling: