The start of a New Year is the perfect time to start fresh and focus on what you want to achieve this year. It’s easy to let the New Year slip away from you, especially if, like most people, your January is extremely busy.
Goal setting is a great way to focus on what you want to achieve and stick to it throughout the year. So, before you get blindsided by February, let’s goal set for 2023.
To get you started, here are some goal-setting tips:
1. What do you want?
This is the most important step in goal setting. Work out what you want to get out of 2023 first. Even your ‘smaller’ goals will benefit from goal setting; this is a great way to start prioritising and finding what you can fit into your life.
2. Project Management Apps
There are a variety of different project management apps out there to choose from to help you get started. These apps are not only great for keeping you organised, but for setting goals and interacting with your colleagues and clients. There are many features available, but what’s great about most of these apps is that you can set different projects and categorise them in any way you choose. This way, you can separate your life, allowing you to focus on both your professional and personal goals.
These apps are available on your smartphone, tablets and desktop, meaning you can access them from anywhere and on the go. Check out your app store to find one that works for you, whether you are an Apple, Android or Windows user, there is something out there that works and is compatible with you.
Apps such as Trello, Asana, Microsoft Planner.
3. Set Yourself Deadlines
It’s easy to get side-tracked with your goals, especially if there isn’t a time limit on them. If it’s important to you, then you need to be finding the time to complete it. Without a deadline, your goals will be pushed aside.
However, remember to be understanding with your deadlines, give yourself some flexibility and be realistic with the time you are giving yourself. Don’t set yourself up to fail.
4. Achievable Goals
It’s important to be realistic when setting your goals. If your goals are unrealistic, then you are going to struggle to achieve them. This can have a negative impact on you and start to affect your ambition and motivation. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t aim high, it just means that you should consider smaller, more achievable steps to get there, this could mean giving yourself more time or trying out a new approach to your goal.
5. Set Time Aside
This is easier said than done, especially if you’re juggling a busy lifestyle. However, in order to achieve your goals, you are going to have to give yourself time to do so. A good way to do this is by scheduling this time into your busy week, even if it’s an hour or two on a weekday night or a few hours in the morning of a weekend. If you have dedicated time, you are more likely to get the work done in order to achieve your goal.
6. Rewards
Setting up rewards for yourself when you achieve your goals is a great way to motivate yourself. It’s important to acknowledge and celebrate how far you have come, achieving a goal deserves some recognition, therefore you should treat yourself. Even your smaller achievements should be rewarded, even if it’s something as small as a chocolate biscuit with your cup of tea.
7. Split Up ‘Big Tasks’
When you’re facing a bigger task, it can feel overwhelming and harder to complete, especially if there are a lot of steps to complete it. Therefore, it can be effective to split up your task into smaller ones with smaller deadlines. This is also a great way to ensure a more detailed quality of work as you are spending more time focusing on the smaller details, and can help you to have a clearer understanding of what stage you are at of achieving your goal.
8. Prioritising
Your time is precious, and if you want to achieve your goals, then you need to make it a high priority and avoid letting other things in your life get in the way of it. This could mean giving up something in your life in order to give you the time to focus on your goals. Find out what is important to you and go from there.
And finally,
9. Keep Motivated and Optimistic
Don’t be so hard on yourself. It’s important to remember that there will be times when you may not be on schedule and are falling behind a little, but that doesn’t mean you should give up. Life is unpredictable, and there may be times when it gets in the way. If you miss a deadline or find that you are not on track, then take some time to reassess, set new deadlines and start again. It can be frustrating, but giving up is not the answer.
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