I can’t believe we’re already three days into the new year. It feels so unreal to me right now. I mean clearly, we just entered a new year and there are new adventures waiting for us up ahead. However, at the same time I feel like I’m still living the last couple of days in last year, reflecting on how far I’ve come.
Entering the new year is always like this for me. I spend the whole month of December reflecting on my past year. What made it good, what made it bad? What could I have done better, where was there room for improvement? Did I do everything I wanted to do? Simple but important stuff like that. All that reflecting leads me to anticipating what the new year will bring me. Will I have another opportunity to achieve the things I was not able to achieve last year? Will I find more success in the new year than I was able to in the last year? Again, really simply but important stuff.
Since I experience so much reflection and anticipation the last month of the year I guess I sort of just throw myself off for the last few days, and the first few days of the new year. I just always seem to find myself in this state of disbelief that we’ve said goodbye to yet another year, and hello to something meant to be better than the last.
I also always find myself in this weird phase at the start of the new year. I like to get all my goals lined up for what I’m going to accomplish in the new year on the very 1st day of the new year. However, once I have all my goals lined up, I get stuck on when to put those goals into action. Do I start on the 1st, or wait a couple of days? In the past I would have never given a second thought as to why I always get stuck on when to jump start my yearly goals. However, this year I’m doing things a lot differently, so deciding when I’m going to put them into action is an important piece of the puzzle that I must know and understand.
Related Posts: Year End Review: Reflecting on This Past Year
This year my intention is to set five goals that I want to achieve by the end of the year. These goals are going to be challenging for me, meaningful to me, and ultimately life changing for me. Also, instead of not knowing when to start these goals, and waiting until mid-February early March to jump start them, I’m going to also set a specific date for when I will put my intended goals into action. By doing this I believe that I will keep myself out of the mysterious dark area about goals, and allow myself to step into the light that will ultimately guide me to achieving these goals.
Something I learned this past year about goals is that the key to achieving them is for them to be clear and specific. The more specific your goals are, the clearer they will be to you on how to achieve them. If your goals are clear and specific, then you know exactly what you are aiming for. You understand what your purpose is in regards to these goals and why achieving these goals mean so much to you.
I’ve always been the type of person to carry over resolutions from the past year into the new year. Which I know if one reason why I never actually follow through on my resolutions. By carrying over those resolutions I’m just reminding myself that I didn’t actually accomplish it in the past year, for whatever reason that may be. Does it suck? Yeah, sometimes.
However, I’m also a firm believer that everything happens in its time, when it is meant to, all for a reason. Maybe I didn’t accomplish those resolutions because they didn’t mean that much to me, and maybe they didn’t mean that much to me because I didn’t make it my goal to see them through. So instead of making resolutions, I’m making goals. Also, instead of carrying over goals/resolutions from last year I’m starting off on a clean slate.
Starting off on a clean slate will ensure four things for me.
- Your vision is clear
- Your intended focus is pointed in the right direction
- You are not carrying over any burdens, disappointments from “failing” the first time
- You really are doing it for yourself
It’s important to always start off any goal that you are doing with a clean slate because you don’t want to end up comparing your current progress with your previous progress. We meet ourselves at different points in our life, with different challenges and obstacles, for a reason. Don’t let your reasoning for not being able to achieve a previous goal be the reason you sabotage, intentionally or unintentionally, your current goals.
Related Posts: Don’t Make New Year Resolutions Make New Year Goals
Here’s a fabulous example of a success story from Katie Welsh, about how setting a goal that is clear and specific can really change your life for the better!
Katie Welsh at Chain of Wealth shares her success story of getting out of $20,000 worth of negative equity.
Article: How I Got Out of Negative Equity
“My most recent success goal is getting out of $20,000 of negative equity and getting rid of a massive car payment” – Katie Welsh
My top five goals this year are:
- To adopt a clean eating lifestyle
- To practice and maintain a steady workout routine
- Complete my current acting class and to continue to practice this craft
- Find and maintain a steady and reliable financial lifestyle
- To be as happy as I can possibly be in spite of stress and anxiety
Thank you, Katie, for sharing your story with me and the Kimora Chanel, aka love bugs, fam! Its people like you who help keep the fire to make a better future for myself burning fiercely under me. If you haven’t done so already be sure to check out these other great examples about making and achieving clear and specific goals.
Also, if you would like to check out more from Katie, just click on the link below!
See you soon love bugs!
-Xo
Kimora