Woman to Woman: Go Get Your Goals

By: Lauren Thomas

As we are approaching the halfway mark of the year, probably the last things on your mind are your New Year’s resolutions. Even so, the midway point of the year provides a great opportunity to evaluate goals and progress, as well as to revise some of those resolutions. You’ll thank yourself for it come December 31^st when you can remind yourself that you didn’t give up on those goals, but instead made modifications that activated achievement.

Use these “4 R’s” to help you go get your goals this year!

Remind

What were your goals?

As January days stretch into weeks and then months, we easily forget some of our goals. Remind yourself of every goal and plan you devised at the turn of the year.
What led you to make these goals in the first place?

Remind yourself of your original motivation. What made these the goals you chose for yourself.

Reevaluate

Did you know that anxiety is sometimes a byproduct of a lifestyle that contradicts one’s values. If you were to examine your goals, your values, and your lifestyle, how closely would they align? If the answer is, “not very close,” it’s possible that you are experiencing some anxiety from this. What are your values? Do your goals reinforce your values?
What has worked?

Have you succeeded in keeping some of your goals? Did you have stretches of success? Celebrate that!
If you have had some success, get curious about what contributed to that success. Was there a sense of reward? Did you have accountability? Were you frequently reminded of your goals? Etc.

What has not worked?

Were your goals unattainable? Too big? Were there too many? Was the timing bad? (For instance, training to run a marathon might not be a realistic goal if you are pregnant or recently postpartum). Get curious and specific.

Revise

After looking over the above steps, you might already know what you need to revise in your resolutions.
Determine what goals you will carry forward over the next 6 months. Within those goals, consider creating objectives.

Objectives are measurable action steps that are necessary steps to achieving a goal.

Consider implementing strategies for reaching your goals.

Example: If one of your goals is rather large, break it into steps and assign timelines/deadlines for completing the smaller steps. Make sure they are realistic!
Example: Create a monthly spreadsheet for your refrigerator that contains micro-goals (or objectives). Not only will this be a frequent reminder of your goals, but it will also incentivize checking off daily or weekly tasks.

Recommit