- Choose creative goals that eliminate stress of work or family life.
- Financial goals, like building retirement savings, will help you feel more accomplished.
- Even if you slip up, recommit to your goal.
Setting goals for yourself in the new year can feel like a daunting task. There are so many choices of things to do, ways to make the world and yourself better. How do you narrow down your options and make them more likely to be accomplished?
Choose a Fun, Creative Goal
Find a goal that really interests you. The most important thing to know about choosing “the right” goal is that you don’t have to pick just one, but you do have to make some choices. Pick one or more goals that makes your heart sing – some sort of creative endeavor that will help expand your mind and get yourself out of a rut, if you’re in one. In addition, pick a goal that makes your responsible side happy, too.
Creative goals can include writing and publishing some writing, painting some works for your portfolio, or dancing for fun and inspiration. Something that makes you happy should be included in your 2023 goals – life tends to be overwhelming with work demands and family obligations. Having an outlet for pure joy can help relieve the pressure of everyday exigencies.
Related: Side Hustles to Increase Retirement Savings
Don’t Forget Financial Goals
Having a responsible adult goal helps keep you safe and sane in a rapidly changing world. Let’s say you have a 401k at work or a Solo 401k because you work for yourself. Making regular payments into your account helps establish your net worth. Having a retirement fund that’s growing under your care can help lay the foundations for solid financial health in all aspects of your life. It can lead you to establish and maintain excellent credit and invest wisely in areas you care about.
Write Your Goals Down
Once you determine your goals for 2023, the single most important thing you can do to help make it happen is to write it down. Put on paper, in your own handwriting, what you want to accomplish this year. It could be learning a new language or how to drive, taking a dance or tae kwan do class, or putting aside more money for retirement. Write it down and make it real. Put it on a sticky note and place the note where you can see it. Make copies of the goals and notes and put them on the bathroom mirror, on the dashboard of your car, and on the inside of your planner. The more you see the goals you have, the more you will be reminded of them and why they’re important to you.
When you concentrate on your goals visualize them happening, form the reasons why the goals are important to you all the way to the way it makes you feel when the goals are achieved. This type of focus helps train your body and mind to function as if the goals are already accomplished. In addition, regular practice at your aim will help you reach your target.
Make Positive Changes All Year Long
Each new year offers an opportunity to craft resolutions, but this is not the only time changes can occur. If you slipped up making a contribution to your 401k with your first paycheck of the year, see if you can automate a deduction from your paycheck so you can catch the rest of the year with minimal effort. If you didn’t stick to your diet or sobriety pledge or write the requisite number of words or dance the correct number of hours or practice the piano for as long as you’d promised – start again. Just start over and recommit to yourself and your dreams.
