11 Tips for crushing your New Years goals

According to Forbes, while many people set resolutions to start the year, only 25% are still working on them after 30 days.  Worse yet, only 8% of people report that they have successfully achieved their goal.

However, this doesn’t mean that setting goals in the New Year can’t be successful. Let’s talk about ways to set and stick with your New Year’s goals!

1. Set SMART Goals instead of vague resolutions

For a full run-down on SMART goals, check out our past post here. However, here’s a quick synopsis.

Specific:

It’s common for individuals to make their goals broad and encompassing. However, the problem is that setting a vague goal actually makes it more difficult to accomplish. After all, there should be a finish line in mind right?

A new year’s resolution such as “lose weight” is bound to fail because there’s nothing specific to keep you committed day in and day out. 

Furthermore, the vagueness of this goal makes it difficult to track progress along the way. And as a result, you won’t have a benchmark to determine if you’re on the right path to success or whether your efforts to date have sufficient.

So rather than setting a goal to “I will get more fiber in my diet,” instead get specific and change that goal to “I will eat five servings of vegetables per day and make half of my grains whole grains.”

Measurable:

A goal should have a way to measure its progress. For example, I will eat five servings of vegetables per day and track my vegetable intake on the Lose-It app.

Attainable:

It is vital with any goal to be realistic with yourself and any limitations due to your current lifestyle.

Set a goal that is realistic, and then make new ones as you crush them!

For example, it’s unrealistic to go from not exercising at all to a goal of running a marathon by March.

Instead, set a more attainable goal such as, “I will start exercising one day per week and increase to three days per week by the end of the month. And if I’m able to hit that mark, then maybe I can expand my goal four days a week by the end of February.”

Remember: if a goal is unattainable, you can be left feeling overwhelmed from the start and are more likely to throw in the towel prematurely.

Relevant:

Create a goal that is relevant to you and that you are motivated to accomplish. Make sure that you have good intentions behind your goals.

Working on a goal just because someone told you to or because it might appease someone else is often not enough to keep you focused day in and day out.

Time-bound:

Put a deadline on that goal so that you know there is an end in sight.

Setting that deadline may push you when you’re feeling unmotivated at times and help ensure you achieve your goal this year. Try to keep goals on a relatively short deadline so that you stay motivated and eliminate procrastination.

If the goal is large, like running a marathon, split the goal into mini-goals of a 5K, 10K, half marathon, and full marathon over a longer period of time.

2. Don’t commit to too many new habits at once

It’s much better to pick a one or two specific goals and focus on them rather than setting a bunch of new goals and getting overwhelmed.

If you have lots of goals in mind, write them all down and then just pick one or two to start with. And remember, make sure that you’re choosing goals that are meaningful and motivating to you.

3. Start with low-hanging fruit and build confidence

Another way to choose which goals to pick first is by identifying the easiest ones first.

By choosing goals that you can easily accomplish, it will help build up your self-confidence and efficacy, making those harder goals feel more attainable.

4. Check-in with yourself and your progress daily, weekly, or monthly

Once you decide on a goal, write it down in a place where you will be reminded of it often and come up with ways to track your progress.

For example, the Lose It! app is a great place to track food intake, water, weight loss, body measurements, body fat percentage, exercise, sleep, blood pressure, and blood sugar.

5. Be forgiving

Having an all or nothing mentality will not get you to your long-term goals.

As life is full of unexpected changes and events (hello 2020), it’s so important to give yourself enough grace to get back up, dust yourself off, and try again.

Long-term goals and new habits will come with some bumps along the road as you master them. And that’s okay. But if you get frustrated and give up when life happens, chances are you’ll never achieve your goals.

So, as you set your goals in 2021, let’s all try to be more forgiving with ourselves.

6. Change the way you talk to yourself  

Make sure to give yourself positive affirmations and decrease the negative, defeatist talk.

Use language like “I can” and “I will” versus “I wish I could.” If you tell yourself you can and then put in the work, you’re far more likely to succeed.

7. Celebrate wins along the way

Staying positive when things get hard is important for big goals. Celebrate all of the little wins along the way and enjoy the process.

Check out our blog post on non-scale victories.

8. Be consistent

Ambitious goals take persistent work. And this work has to be done even when you don’t feel like it or aren’t feeling particularly motivated.

But if you keep at it, you will reap the rewards.

9. Change your mindset

We’re all born with unique genes and individual ability levels. However, that doesn’t mean that we’re limited in what we’re able to learn and achieve.

A fixed mindset assumes that your abilities and intelligence are capped. Or in other words, you either have it or you don’t. And this type of thinking can be incredibly limiting.

In contrast, a growth mindset is one in which you believe abilities and knowledge are developed over time with effort.

Individuals with a growth mindset are more likely to set and achieve ambitious goals because they believe that everything can be improved, and they are willing to put in the work.

You can learn more about the growth mindset at the Positive Psychology website here.

10. Create habits that align with your new mindset and goals

If you want your mindset to be that of personal growth, you need to start doing daily things that help you achieve it.

Personally, I find that listening to podcasts related to my goals not only increases my knowledge of what I want to achieve, but also reinforces ideas and habits that I’m already aware of.

Another helpful way to stay in the growth mindset and establish helpful habits is by surrounding yourself with other individuals who welcome growth and change.

If you’re around others who are working hard then you are more likely to work hard yourself and achieve your own personal goals. 

As the saying goes, if you hang out in a barbershop long enough you’re bound to get a haircut.

11. Get out of your comfort zone

Just like with exercise, growth occurs when we are uncomfortable and feel challenged.

Be open to getting a little outside of your comfort zone in order to make your goals a reality.

The Bottom Line

2020 was a doozy of a year. So, as we start 2021, let’s all hit the refresh button and make it a better year than the one before.

Set SMART goals, check-in with yourself regularly, be kind to yourself, change your self-talk, celebrate your wins, be consistent, have a growth mindset, create meaningful habits, surround yourself with other hustlers, and get out of your comfort zone. 

Have you made goals for the New Year before? Share your tips for success in the comments below!

For more on setting New year’s resolutions, be sure to check out our previous posts as well:

• New Years Resolutions: Why They’re Hard to Keep and How to Change That
• 6 Resolutions We Wish People Would Stop Making
• 5 New Years Resolutions You’ll Actually Want to Keep