During the month of January, all you seem to hear about is New Year’s Resolutions. People are all pumped up to lose weight, get finances under control, get organized etc. While I think the desire to accomplish these things is awesome, I think the idea of resolutions…is not.
Here’s my issue; resolutions get broken. Constantly. There’s ongoing jokes about it. New memes every year. Resolutions have become something we all laugh about.
Most of us start out with good intentions, but let’s be honest, life gets in the way. I think the biggest reason people don’t follow through with resolutions is because they set them a little too high, then they get discouraged and realize it’s not going to happen how and/or when they want, and they quit. It’s just too overwhelming.
But I think the “idea” is good. So instead of setting “resolutions”, I set “goals”. They could be daily, weekly, monthly or yearly goals. I set them – realistically – and tackle them at my own pace. I find this a lot less overwhelming and I’m more likely to accomplish my goals.
Here are some examples of what I mean;
DAILY GOALS
One of my daily goals is to drink more water. If I don’t reach my goal that day, I don’t quit. I just try to do better the next day, and so on. Daily goals are small things you focus on that DAY. One day at a time.
Goals can be for your kids too! We’ve set a daily goal to have our boys read more. We’ve adjusted their bedtime routine to include quiet reading in their rooms each night before bed. They love it, and it sets aside a dedicated time for them to read their favourite books without distraction.
Other daily goals you could have is to eat a healthy breakfast, get a good night’s sleep, or floss.
WEEKLY GOALS
One of my weekly goals is to exercise more. Ideally, I’d like to exercise 4-5 days a week. Whether it’s a walk, a bike ride, or the treadmill, I’d like to make time for it. I set this as a weekly goal because I’m more likely to stick with it. If I only exercise 3 times one week, I put that week behind me and I do better the next week.
We also have a weekly goal to play a board game together as a family. We all love board games and family time is super important to us, so we make this a weekly priority.
Other weekly goals could involve dividing up chores to keep the house clean, meal planning for the week, or reducing the amount of screen time you and/or your kids have.
MONTHLY GOALS
My own personal monthly goal is to read more. I really enjoy reading and it’s not that I don’t HAVE the time to read…it’s that I don’t MAKE the time to read. So, during the month of January, I’d like to read 2 books. Totally doable. I might even read 3. If that goes well, I’ll try to read 4 in February and so on. I’m tackling this goal on a month by month basis.
Other monthly goals might be to pay off a bit of debt each month, or reach your monthly weight loss goal.
YEARLY GOALS
Our big goal for the year is to focus on family time. We did a really good job with this in 2017, so our goal is to continue to make family time a priority. That will mean something different for every family, but for us it means our weekly board games nights, movie nights on weekends, sledding, bike riding, mini day/weekend trips together etc.
Other yearly goals could be job related, planning a much-needed family vacation, or simply focusing on leading a less stressful life.
No matter what your goals are, I’m confident if you set small, more attainable goals for yourself instead of grand resolutions, you’ll be more likely to reach them. You’ll also feel good that you’re accomplishing the things you want, even if it is little by little.
