New Habits, New Life

Goal setting for 2022?

Set yourself up for success! Make those goals happen by establishing habits that achieve! Goals are achieved by working toward them consistently! You have to take action, even if it is in the form of small steps each day so make your action effective!

First and foremost, don't be vague about your goals, be specific. For example, instead of saying "I am going to lose weight" say "I am going to lose 20 pounds." From there you set the smaller goals and the action plan to achieve the major goal.

How do you create the action plan once you have your specific goal? Well, in order to achieve something new, you have to do something new. What you are currently doing won't achieve your new goal (otherwise you would have already achieved it). That means you need new daily habits to replace the current habits that aren't working.

Here's the thing, if you are currently doing Thing X then you can't just say I am now going to do Thing Y. Our brains just aren't wired to change like that. It may work for a couple of days but it won't create a new habit that gets you on the path toward your goals.

We often think that creating new habits (or stopping bad habits) is all about self-discipline. The truth is, if we create other factors that guide our new habit, we won't need as much self-discipline and the new habit will be both easier and more achievable. For me personally, environment has been the biggest factor in achieving goals. You have to create an environment that makes the habit easy and attainable on a regular basis. Let me give you some examples:

You start with your vague goal of "I want to eat healthier" and change it to "I am going to pack a salad for lunch every day instead of getting fast food and I am going to cook dinner at home instead of take out every night." You have changed vague to specific so now it's time to create the action plan. Planning is important but the action is what achieves. Your action plan would start like this: Make a meal plan and get the groceries. Meal prep and organize the groceries so each meal is convenient to make. Set a reminder in your phone to prep the next day's lunch salad while you are cooking supper. Another benefit of this goal is that you are going to save money on food! New habits that achieve more than one goal are always more motivating!

A different example would be you start with a vague goal of "I need to get more sleep" and you change it to "I am going to get 8 hours of sleep each night." This is a goal where you have to stop and ask yourself WHY are you not getting enough sleep? Do you end up watching too many shows? Do you scroll on your phone late into the night? A situation like this would require a different action plan such as remove the TV from the bedroom or leave the phone in the kitchen at night. Creating an inviting bedroom sanctuary or setting a reminder of when it is time to go to bed can help you as well. (For more tips read my blog post on creating a bedroom sanctuary HERE)

Another big factor that drives new habit success (and ultimately goal success) for me is who I surround myself with. First and foremost, I communicate new goals and needed habits to my husband. He is my biggest fan and I know he will always support me. He will even be my tough love that I need sometimes in supporting my goals! But who we surround ourselves with outside the home matters greatly too! If you are looking for major changes in your life, you most likely will need to make some major changes in who you surround yourself with. We are a summation of the 5 people we surround ourselves with the most. Look at your 5 and ask yourself if they define who you want to be? This can be a really hard step but people that hinder your growth will prevent you from your goals.

Soooo! Want to make 2022 amazing? Make a list of your specific goals. Then make your action plan to achieve those goals. What new habits do you need to create to achieve them? Hold yourself accountable to them with the Habit Tracker.

When I was revamping my life, I created new daily habits. Here are the 30 Habits I Live By that helped me completely reshape my life, my focus, and my path. When I went through a really hard time this past year, following the death of our 3 year old dog to cancer, I leaned on these habits to get me through the day and retain some normalcy.

Want to read more about personal growth? Check out a few of my top book picks HERE

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