New Year New You?

Along with other versions of this - there is a lot of what is basically new year new me, life overhaul conversations going on at the moment.

How do you feel about that?

For me - I love to set goals and intentions for the year and there are benefits in doing so. Goal setting brings focus and direction, it helps to create motivation for change, and it also represents a process that allows you to reflect on where you are and what you need going forward.

What I am not a fan is of people saying what you should do, it doesn’t work because it isn’t rooted in where you are and what is happening in your life right now. So here are a few ideas to help you set some goals should you wish to.

Firstly start where you are. Get a big blank piece of paper and empty your head, get it all out. All the white noise and the dark noise, put it down there. And then filter through, is there anything you need to make note of? And if there isn’t ditch it.

Then take a few moments to think about what YOU want to do this year. Remembering all the time that the best goals have a purpose or a why behind them. So thinking about your reasoning is time well spent.

Make your goals SMART. Many of you will have already heard that term - SMART goals are:

SPECIFIC
MEASURABLE
ATTAINABLE
RELEVANT
TIME BASED

And I would also advise to start with some easy wins, some smaller goals that form part of your longer one. If your goal is to walk a trail, break some of that down in to smaller sections that you can tick off. Every tick is a win, and the positive reinforcement you will get will pay off.

And a final point - you don’t have to do any of this at all. If for now your goal is just to get through each day, well release any pressure or negative emotions that may be swirling around this. Just focus on taking good care of yourself.

Sending hugs. Because hugs always win.

Jan