Truthfully, I have never been much of a New Years’ resolution fan. I didn’t quite get it, if you wanted to change something or do something…why wait till the new year? Why not start today, tomorrow, or even next week, why wait?! Maybe that’s just me, not saying anything is wrong with a little procrastination, but why put all your eggs in one basket and wait for that “perfect time”…
Goals vs. Resolutions
Years ago, I tried to jump on the bandwagon and would come up with a resolution, just so I had something to talk about. But, I was never passionate about it or had the metrics to actually track it so what was the point? How many people do you see brag and talk about their New Years’ resolutions come January 1st, but by mid-February they are nowhere to be seen.
Instead, a few years ago, I started to write down birthday goals, and then last year I selected a word of the year. Having a birthday in November, this works out well, but it is such a good practice! For me, this has worked out better than anything else. Having multiple goals and things I want to focus on during the year has made it easier to not get down or too hard on myself if I am not where I thought I would be by mid-summer.
It is not as restrictive as just one goal especially since I see so many people say they are going to “get in shape” this year. I have many goals and they can be as big as starting a new career (literally that was on my list last year and now here I am!) or as simple as moving my body every day (also another goal from last year). With big and little goals, I have so many things to work on and plan for during the year. I don’t feel forced or pigeonholed into just trying to work out every day to lose a few pounds. Instead, I have created goals for the life that I am actually creating. Below is a sample of the goals I made for myself last year, most of these I did pretty well on, even dates with my husband although we had to get a tad more creative this past year.
Sabra’s 2020 Birthday Goals
- Find a career/path/cause that I truly love
- Consistent dates with my husband
- Exercise/move my body daily
- Take 3-5 trips with my family
- Prioritize the real stuff and let the little stuff go
- More flexible time
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Word of the Year
In addition to my birthday goals for the year, I also pick a focus word for the year. Last year my word was GROWTH, now this can be super open-ended and not for everyone but for me it works. I don’t spend a ton of active time thinking about my word of the year. I literally wait till something comes to me and see if it resonates. For me, growth was so fitting last November (my birthday month) and it truly transpired throughout my whole year in so many ways.
At that time I just recently returned to work from maternity leave, was dealing with postpartum anxiety, an extremely contentious work situation, and was feeling a bit lost, to say the least. Growth felt good for me, I could grow personally, professionally, in a new career, etc. I can happily report back I have had a ton of growth this past year. There have been a few outside factors that have come into play that have pushed that along, but at the end of the day, only you control how you respond to outside stimuli.
In case you missed it: I Thought I would be a Pinterest Mom
If you are a New Year’s resolution fan, good for you! However, if you try and fail to succeed in the goal you wanted, it might be time to look at a new approach to reaching your dreams. Maybe goals are not that important to you, or maybe they are but you don’t know where to start. Either way, there is more than one way to reach your goals. Happy New Year!
Picture Credits: Sabra Ritter, unsplash.com
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