Happy New Year! WOW, feels good to be back. I feel like I’ve been non-stop since THANKSGIVING.
With my insane travel schedule the past few months and all of the social obligations that come with the holiday season, it feels so nice to be back in a schedule and finally be home for a second.
I got back to Savannah over the weekend and have been in a frenzy of cleaning, laundry, unpacking, grocery shopping… and still feel like I’m nowhere near caught up on it all!
How long does it usually take you to get back in the swing of things? I’d love to know, let me know in the comments!
Every January, everyone talks non-stop about their New Year’s Resolutions. Year after year, we make big grandiose plans for the new year and all the ways we’re going to be better. Typically, we forget them by February, right? I think this year it’s been even worse than usual, considering that it’s the start of a WHOLE. NEW. DECADE! I know I’m not the only one who felt the pressure to go big when it came to thinking about what I want to accomplish in the next 10 years. (WOW. 10 YEARS?)
Set Mini-Goals
Making big plans is great. I believe we should all dream big, reach for the stars, all of that. BUT, just writing down a lofty goal isn’t enough. If you hope to make your dream a reality, you need to break it down into smaller goals.
Big changes don’t typically happen overnight. Most of our goals require work and time, which can be discouraging. The answer isn’t to give up when our goals seem too big. The answer is to set your gaze on a lower, more easily attainable mini-goal that will ultimately lead you to your main, big goal.
So, let’s use a “blogger goal”. The first Instagram milestone most bloggers aspire to is 10,000 followers. If you’re starting out with 200 followers, the goal of clearing 10,000 may seem insurmountable. I’d say this: set the 10,000 follower goal. But along the way, set mini-goals. 1,000. 5,000. Getting to 1,000 from 200 is much more attainable than 10,000. Once you hit the 1,000, set your gaze to the 5,000.
Treat Yourself
Reward yourself for hitting these mini-goals! Celebrate every gain, you deserve it. Most of goal-setting is all about mindset. I think it’s really important to continually feel like you’re making progress and to feel accomplished. Particularly those of us who are perfectionists need to take this to heart. Often we won’t really feel like we’ve accomplished anything until the task is DONE… but that’s not realistic. Progress and growth happen slowly. We need to make sure we’re taking the time to acknowledge that even though we’re not exactly where we want to be, we’re on the way there.
Get an Accountability Partner
Don’t do it alone! Confide your plans in someone you trust. Let them BE there for you in the hard and discouraging times. We all need someone to cheer us on and to give us a boost when we feel like giving up. The people in your life love you and want to be there for you… let them!
Don’t Give Up
Did you miss the mark on your goals? That’s ok. Keep pushing towards it and eventually, it will happen. Don’t give up, just make sure that you’re consistently reevaluating your strategy and if it’s not really working… don’t be afraid to change it up. Make sure that you’re open to new ideas and methods and before you give up… maybe you just need to change it up a little.
Overall, we need to give ourselves a little grace. I think that we’re all so caught up in success and comparison that we’re beating ourselves up when we don’t make it ALL THE WAY to where we want to be. We don’t take the time to celebrate our own growth and the smaller achievements we’ve hit along the way. Progress is progress. Forward movement is what matters and I think that if we focused on how far we’ve come instead of how far we have left to go… it’ll keep us motivated.
HAPPY NEW YEAR GIRLFRIENDS! I hope that this decade brings to fruition all of the desires of your heart and that your dreams all come true. I truly, truly believe that the best is yet to come. LOVE YOU!
