The Ultimate Guide to Crush Your Goals In 2023
- rach
- Dec 27, 2022
- 5 min read
Start 2023 the right way: Everything you need to know + Notion template and Goal-Setting Wrokbook
2023 is coming our way faster than we thought. A few days ago it was October and we were all celebrating Halloween and then, as we blink our eyes, Christmas is here and we are busy buying gifts and having dinner with friends and family. These last couple weeks of December always pass by so fast that we don’t even realize how close New Year’s Eve is. The next thing we know is that it is midnight and there are fireworks in the night sky.
Most of us like to write down some resolutions and things we want to change about ourselves to become our best version and to have the best year of our life - to be successful. However, after two or three weeks into January, we start getting lost, forget about our goals, lose motivation, and end up doing the same as the previous year, only to notice it when December comes again.
To overcome that, I’m bringing you this guide, where I will explain why such a thing happens, and how to crush all your goals and stick to new healthy habits this year.
Content
Review your 2022
It is a fact that we learn from our mistakes, so it isn’t an exception in this case.
Go back in time and think of who you were a year ago, on January 1st, and the goals you wanted to achieve through 2022. Reflect on your past goals, on your ambitions - did you achieve all of them? If not, why?
It is important to remember that although we didn’t achieve all our goals and our year didn’t happen as planned, we still learned a lot and grew.
Now, it’s time to reflect on your battles - the down moments of the year. Think about how they happened, what triggered them, and what you could have done differently to avoid them.
Resolutions for 2023
Now that you know the highlights of 2022, you can wisely plan this new year. First of all, think about all the things you wanted to achieve last year, and write them down. Then, list other things you want to do this year - make sure they’re achievable since you want to work to get them and not do something impossible.
It’s also a good thing to think about relationships and who doesn’t belong in our lives anymore. Don’t be afraid to cut people off when they’re not doing any good to you anymore, or when you don’t do any good to them.
SMART Goals
The reason why we don’t achieve our goals throughout the year is that we don’t use smart goals. But, what are SMART goals, then?
SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. What we mean by this is that you have to make sure you don’t grab a piece of paper and write "get healthier", or "get good grades", "get a lot of money", since they’re too generic.
Instead, you should take these generic goals and develop them into something like this:
To get healthier, I will walk 10k steps every day, and drink 2L of water; I will go to the gym twice a week; I will lose 5kg by march.
Don’t go too heavy on yourself - you can increase the intensity as the year goes by.
The exercise now is to go to the list previously written, 2023 resolutions, and re-write them as smart goals. Set a due date for each of them, but make sure they won’t overwhelm you.
New Habits
Sometimes bad habits hold us back from achieving our goals (for example, procrastinating, going to bed late, or scrolling endlessly on social media). Sit back and reflect on your past days and point out which bad habits are in your routine. You will need to get rid of them. The best way to do it is by replacing it with a new healthy habit. For example, swipe the number of hours you spend on social media reading a book, practicing an instrument, or exercising. If you want to stop drinking soda, swipe it with water.
Make a list of new habits you want to include in your routine, then check them off every day and see how long you can keep the streak! Reward yourself after a certain amount of time (after a week, a month, you name it).
With these new habits implemented in your daily life, you’ll see your routine changing through the months. If you stick to these habits, you’ll feel a huge difference by the end of the year.
Motivation
Most of the time we end up not doing things because we lack motivation. It makes us procrastinate for hours and hours, searching for inspiration and trying to find just a little bit of motivation to get up and do what has to be done. That’s right, I’ve been there.
The thing is, we always as ourselves “how are they always so motivated?” The truth is, they are not! Motivation isn’t everything, and it won’t make us reach our goals - on the contrary: if we spend our precious time awaiting motivation to come to us, we will spend another year doing nothing. That’s why we create a system to reach our goals - we need to be consistent, even when we don’t feel like doing it. We need to get up and do our work, because who else will do it for us?
So, which system should we adopt? Everything already mentioned: Get rid of bad habits, stick to healthy new ones, set smart goals, and work towards them.
Vision Board
Last but not least, create a vision board.
To create a good vision board, don’t throw just “cute pictures” on a board. Instead, pick pictures that make you feel closer to your goals, that help you visualize them, and that is always there in front of you to remind you about the purpose of your day.
You can make a physical vision board or a digital one. To the physical, search for images, words, and phrases that remind you of your goals. Then print them and put them together on a board or in a notebook - but make sure it’s somewhere visible so that you can always reach for it and take a look.
If you rather do it digitally, it’s also quite simple. Instead of printing picture by picture, make a collage. The best way is to put them together in a document that fits your computer/tablet/phone screen. This way you can set it as wallpaper, and look at it multiple times throughout the day, even without thinking of it.
Conclusion
Let’s take a look at what has been said: before setting goals for 2023, think about 2022 and highlight good and bad moments. Revise the goals you have achieved, and those you didn’t, and try to understand the reason behind them. After that is done, let’s head to the next step, which is the actual goal-setting: write down your new year resolutions, keeping in mind the definition of SMART goals, so that they’re achievable. Among the new goals, set new habits you want to stick to and find bad habits in your routine you want to get rid of. The last step is to create a vision board and to always keep it close to you.
Last tip: Before concluding, I’d like to remind you to check your goals and resolutions throughout the year. I recommend taking a look at them every month, and then writing a journal entry by the end of each month and reflecting on what went well, and what went wrong. Always plan ahead, and set small monthly steps to achieve your final goals.
Now that you’re ready to set your goals and get started with 2023, grab now this bundle: 2023 Notion Planner + Crush Your Goals Workbook only for 9€. For the first 15 people, get 2€ off with the code decemberplanning.
I wish you a happy new year, and hope you can reach all your goals in 2023!
Happy planning.
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