As 2026 comes to an end, we can reflect on our accomplishments and goals we’ve set for ourselves. But what if we haven’t quite met our goals? No worries, there’s still time to feel accomplished by the end of the year.
Goal-Setting
Sometimes it’s easier to tell ourselves we’ll reset our goals for later when accomplishing our current ones feels impossible. A whole year is a long time to fulfill a target, so work with the current framework you have. Whether it’s just 60 days or 30 days, it’ll be better than nothing at all. How we organize and word our desired outcome is essential because it holds accountability and gives something to work towards.
Instead of setting a broad standard, maybe set dedicated time aside to work towards that satisfaction. For instance, “getting in shape” means something different for everyone, and it can be hard to understand once you’ve hit that goal. So, with the time you have left for the year, do any sort of exercise that feels good for you in accomplishing that.
Personally, one of my goals for the year was to “read more,” but I never gave myself a guideline to follow that’d make me realize I’ve hit my goal. I don’t know how many books I read last year or even this year, so how will I ever know once I’ve hit my goal? It seems silly. With the time I have remaining, I can then make a goal for myself to read a certain number of books that’d fit my schedule between now and January 1st.
YOUR Goals
With outside influences such as who we surround ourselves with, social media, and unrealistic ideas, New Year’s resolutions might not always be the answer to the actual lifestyle we want to follow.
First and foremost, it’s essential to reflect on yourself and get to know what you truly want, in order to work towards that goal. Specifically, just because someone’s goal online is to eat healthy with certain meals, yours might look different because we all have differences in our needs, materials, resources, etc., that fit our individual standards uniquely. So overall, my advice would be to narrow down what would make you feel accomplished and not set a vague standard for yourself.
Secondly, with the time we have left, prioritize which resolutions mean the most to you, as it can be difficult to handle and manage so many targets at once. I also believe there’s something to be said about underwhelming yourself in your goals. Challenging goals can be difficult to reach, which leads people to give up, which is what gets you to read this article in the first place.
You Can Succeed
Working towards an easy goal is more accomplishable than a hard one that ends in defeat. So, with the remaining time you have, don’t beat yourself up, but simply finish out that goal within the given time frame, as if you had been doing so all along.