Does a New Year Affect Your Goals?

I’m the type of person who makes lists, journals, and creates a vision board each year. However, when New Year’s Eve rolls around I often find myself in a frenzy of creating new goals, resolutions, and wanting to reset my life after the clocks strikes 12 in the new year.

It’s as if there is a huge life clock hanging over my head ticking away and the reset button is hit every Jan. 1.

Recently, though, I realized that the New Year only makes a difference with your personal goals if you let it.

Reaching goals isn’t linear

Goals should be an ongoing process of making adjustments and refining your processes so that you can ultimately reach what you desire for yourself.

Reaching your goals is never a linear process — there are many starts and stops to the process. In fact, a large percentage of people who set goals or New Year’s resolutions end up quitting the goals that they set at that time.

According to statisticbrain.com the following are the top 10 resolutions made in 2015:

• Lose weight
• Get more organized
• Spend less, save more
• Enjoy life
• Staying healthy
• Learning something new
• Quit smoking
• Help others
• Fall in love
• Spend more time with family and friends

It’s my belief that it’s better to be in an ongoing process of making goals, achieving them, and then setting new goals throughout the year. Some people feel that it’s better to end the old year with a burst of energy, new tasks, and ideas. Basically, you end the year the way that you would like to begin it — on an up note.

The other issue is how on earth do you achieve these goals? There is a ton of advice centered around the idea of goal achievement and which process you should follow. I think that people get overwhelmed by their goals and aren’t sure where to start, and where to end.

Also, people can be a bit unrealistic about the amount of time it will take to achieve their goals. If someone is in debt they forget that it usually takes years to get into debt so it may take some time to get out of debt.

People who have set the goal to lose weight have to unlearn eating habits, getting used to exercising, and dealing with any issues that may or may not have contributed to the weight gain.

A method to achieving goals

Many people swear by the S.M.A.R.T. way of achieving their goals:

S: Specific. Be specific about what you would like to achieve.

M: Measurable. Set benchmarks to achieve your goals that you can measure.

A: Achievable. Set goals that you can actually achieve. Instead of trying to lose 15 pounds in a month, set the goal to lose 4 pounds a month. Set yourself up to succeed.

R: Results/Relevant/or Realistic. You get to decide which one of these would work best for your situation. Results are nice because you measure success by the results you achieve. Relevant would be goals that are actually relevant to your situation. Finally, be realistic about the goals that you set for yourself. Dream big…but, be honest with yourself as you set your goals.

T:Time. Create a time frame to achieve the goals that you’ve set for yourself.

Start small. Regardless of whether you start your goals on New Year’s Eve or at any other time of year, set yourself up for success. Good luck!

This post was written by Michelle Jackson, a personal finance and lifestyle blogger sharing her story at The Shop My Closet Project. Her goal is to help people cultivate their best life. When she’s not blogging or podcasting for Girl Gone Frugal you can find her riding her bike, going for coffee, or hiking in the mountains.