A new year brings new beginnings, ideas, and experiences. We always hear the phrase “new year, new me,” so why not truly aim for a new you full of growth and accomplishment? Whether your goals are to be more organized, try new things, be a healthier you, or even to reach a milestone in your career, now is the perfect time as any to get started!
Not sure exactly what your goals are yet? Whether I know what I’m aiming for or not, I always find it helpful to look for inspiration and create a vision board for continued motivation. Imagining and creating something tangible to look at can continue to inspire you through every step along the way to achieving your goals. My favorite app to use for creating vision boards is Pinterest, but others such as Vision Board, Vision Board Perfectly Happy, or your favorite collage app and a few Google image searches can do the job as well!
Once you have a better understanding of what you want your goals to look like, you need to do some research to clearly define them. Say you want to grow your following on social media, set a specific number of followers to reach that is attainable and give yourself a timeline to reach this. Having clear, realistic, and timely goals will help to keep you inspired to reach them and more efficient when you are working on a time frame.
So you have defined your goals, now it’s important to keep track of them. Staying organized both in your personal and professional lives will help you be productive and hold yourself accountable for your work. I always love an organized planner, either physical or in an app. A few favorite apps to keep organized are Evernote, Notion, and TickTick for a calendar based organization. Some apps provide notifications which are extra helpful for motivation and keeping you on track to reach your goals.
When achieving goals, no matter how big or small, it’s important to celebrate all the victories. They are just more motivation to keep working hard! As always, it is important to understand that with the victories, there may be some drawbacks when it comes to achieving your goals. Some weeks you may fall short, but it’s important to keep going and believing in your goals. One app that I find helpful encouragement both in my work and personal life, is I Am which sends daily affirmation notifications as small reminders that you can be your best and achieve your goals. Believing in yourself is the first, and maybe even most important, step in reaching your goals. Once you believe in yourself and your work, there’s no limit to how much you can achieve!
