As the New Year approaches, many goals are left unfinished. But next year can be different. Follow some of these tips to get you back on track to a successful year.
1. Focus on one goal
Instead of making a list of everything you want to accomplish in a year, focus on one thing you want to change or accomplish – perhaps devoting more time to self-care or becoming a leader of a club. Don’t spread yourself thin by trying to do everything. Concentrating all of your time and effort on one goal will make it much more likely for you to succeed in accomplishing it.
2. Break it down into smaller steps
It may seem daunting to accomplish a big goal, but if you break it down into smaller steps, it will be more doable. For example, if your goal is to earn an A in a certain class, you can break the goal down to three smaller steps: set a study schedule, review mistakes and feedback from previous tests and assignments, and meet with your professor or TA. If you apply this method to any other goals, it will seem much less impossible to actually accomplish them.
3. Track your progress
Tracking your progress motivates you to continue to work towards your goal. Keep a record of what you’ve done in a journal or create an “accomplished” board. An accomplished board is similar to a vision board. However, instead of featuring pictures of what you want for the future, it would feature images of what you have accomplished already. For example, with the previous example of hoping to earn an A, an accomplishment board might feature a test you excelled on or a picture of you studying as a reminder of all the hard work you’ve put in already.
4. Expect failure
If you make a few mistakes, don’t worry because it doesn’t set you back from accomplishing your goal. Instead, it teaches you to learn from those mistakes and to keep moving forward. Don’t enter the New Year with the expectation of accomplishing your goal without any hiccups – bumps along the way are totally normal, so no need to fret when they arise!
We hope these tips help you to prepare for a successful 2019!