Life has a rhythm to it with components that seem to play out over and over again. During this season, as we close out one year and cross over into another, we predictably discuss New Year’s Resolutions. Throughout the holiday season, at work and at parties, we talk about the goals we have for the new year. Goals that in themselves have their own rhythm- exercise more, eat better, change jobs, travel more. And inevitably after a few weeks this talk turns to breaking these resolutions. We have a good laugh and repeat the dance. This dance that will not end until we choose to change the music.
There is an abundance of information on best practices when it comes to effective goal-setting- writing your goals down, having an accountability partner, visualizing, using the SMART formula- but one component (arguably the most important one) often missing from the conversation is taking the time to determine if the goal is truly salient for you. Often, we choose goals we think we should have instead of the goals we truly care about. By being honest with ourselves about what we truly want, we can set, work toward and achieve our goals far more easily and more effectively. Nothing is more energizing than some good old-fashioned intrinsic motivation.
This year, why not disrupt your rhythm and set a goal you really care about, one you commit to and one you achieve. To help you, look back on past resolutions and goals and reflect on the ones you met and the ones you abandoned. What patterns emerge for you? Which ones were easy to motivate around, and which ones were a struggle? How did you feel when you reached the goal or didn’t reach it? What do your past experiences setting goals tell you about yourself? How can you use this information to help you reach your goals going forward?
Going one important step further, understanding how what you truly wants connects to your values will increase your motivation and your chances of achieving your goal. So, as you evaluate your New Year’s resolution from this year (or set out to make one), ask yourself why.
*What about this goal is important to you?
*Why do you really want to achieve it?
Keep asking questions until you truly understand the importance of the goal for you and the value it satisfies. For example:
*Why do you want to get healthier?
*To live longer
*Why?
*To meet my grandchildren
*Why?
*Because family is important to my.
So, family is your value.
*Why do you want to save more money?
*To prepare for retirement
*Why?
*To live comfortably in my golden years
*Why?
Because security is important to me.
So, security is your value.
Think about a current goal you have. In addition to employing best practices to help you achieve it, take time to ask yourself:
*Why did I choose this goal?
*Is it really something I want?
*What is the value it satisfies?
*Am I truly dedicated to achieving it?
As you continue your journey, below are some quotes about goals and motivation to help inspire, challenge and encourage you. Read them, write them down, post them, and reflect on them when you need an extra boost or a moment to refocus. May they help get to where you want to be. And may this new year be filled with goals that drive you and shape you. This is your year!
*A goal properly set is halfway reached— Zig Ziglar
*If you set goals and go after them with all the determination you can muster, your gifts will take you places that will amaze you — Les Brown
*It must be borne in mind that the tragedy of life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goals to reach — Benjamin E. Mays
*There is no such thing as can’t, only won’t. If you’re qualified, all it takes is a burning desire to accomplish, to make a change. Go forward, go backward. Whatever it takes. But you can’t blame other people or society in general. It all comes from your mind — Jan Ashford
*It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out, it’s the pebble in your shoe— Muhammad Ali
*The world you desire can be won. It exists.. it is real.. it is possible.. it’s yours — Ayn Rand
*Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be — George A. Sheehan
*We have more possibilities available in each moment than we realize — Thich Nhat Hanh
*Obstacles can’t stop you. Problems can’t stop you. Most important of all, other people can’t stop you. Only you can stop you — Jeffrey Gitomer
*We cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are — Max de Pree
*The only thing standing between you and your goal is the false story you keep telling yourself as to why you can’t achieve it — Jordan Belfort
*Growth is painful. Change is painful. But, nothing is as painful as staying stuck where you do not belong — N. R. Narayana Murthy
*When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be — Lao Tzu
*Let today be the day you love yourself enough to no longer just dream of a better life; let it be the day you act upon it — Steve Maraboli
*For last year’s words belong to last year’s language, and next year’s words await another voice — T.S. Eliot
*Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do — Pope John Paul XXIII
*It’s your place in the world; it’s your life. Go on and do all you can with it, and make it the life you want to live — Mae Jemison
*The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark — Michelangelo
*Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world — Lucille Ball
*You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream — C.S. Lewis
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