The end of the calendar year signals “out with the old in with the new.” For many of us, this means creating resolutions to help accomplish the “new.” Here at Orchid Experience, we are huge fans of not waiting and starting a new resolution/goal as it arises, but as we approach the end to this very unusual year, we are in the same boat as everyone else — wishfully hoping 2021 will even be just a tiny bit closer to normal.
So how do you make goals that you can stick with? It starts with creating that goal. You might have an idea of what you want to accomplish next year. Or maybe you just have a general idea of what areas you want to focus on. Or you might have no idea what to focus on but know you need to just do something new this coming year. No matter where you are on the path of setting a goal, resolution, or new lifestyle habit here’s an exercise to help you.
Five-minute Brainstorm
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Grab a piece of paper and a pen (yeah a pen, not a pencil)
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Write down these categories (feel free to add more but keep it general) at the top of the page (like the first row of a column): Fitness, Health, Romantic Relationship, Social, Financial, Career, Education, Spirituality
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Set a timer for 5 minutes and write down things you’d like to work on, improve, or change in each of those columns. Don’t worry if there are many in one and none in another, it’s OK.
30-second Narrow Down
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Set a timer for 30-seconds. (You want it short. So you don’t overthink it.)
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Use your pen. (Yes, a pen.)
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Put a star or circle the most important item in each column. Feel free to choose two in the columns with a lot of potential goals.
Maybe one goal stands out to you. Maybe a couple do. It’s not bad to have more than one goal each year (or at a time). It can be extremely appropriate to have one goal per category. If you need some time to figure out which one(s) you want to focus on, go ahead and take a night to think about it. It might also be helpful to try this next exercise for all of your options.
End Result Exercise
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Get a clean sheet of paper.
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Write down each of the goals you want to accomplish and give yourself a little bit of space in between each.
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For each of the goals you circled in the last exercise, imagine how you will feel, what your life would be like after you accomplish your goal.
Maybe this last exercise helped you narrow down your goals to the few you want to focus on. Or maybe you already had your goals narrowed down. Either way, it’s now time to make them concrete!