As the new year begins, many of us see this time as a chance to start afresh, renew ourselves, go after things that we want, or even remedy the way we did things last year. Right now, many of us are still full of the zeal that the new year brings. This is the best time to lay out plans, goals and ideas for the year and start working towards them.

Here are a few things to keep in mind while planning your goals and resolutions for the year:

1. Set Specific Goals

 Write down the goals that you would like to achieve, and then gradually break it down into as specific targets as possible. For example, many of us vow at the start of the year that we will exercise more. This is a great starting point, but narrowing your goal down a bit will help you be more realistic. How many times a week will you realistically be able to exercise? What are some common things that interfere with your exercise plan? Factoring all these things in will help you arrive at a more specific target. For example, "I am going to exercise every alternate day of the week after work."

2. Prepare

Once you have specific goals in mind, prepare for how you will reach them. Evaluate the time and energy involved, any obstacles that you may foresee (and plan for how to overcome these) and invest in making the small and big changes in your daily routine. For example, if you have decided to exercise every other day after work, remember to keep your exercise bag packed the night before, carry a snack with you to give you the extra energy, plan your work schedule for the day accordingly and ensure that you rest well the night before. Being prepared in all these small ways will give you the every day boosts that you need to keep working towards your goal.

3. Stock Up On Motivation

A year is a very long time. It is a very natural for our energy and motivation to wane after a while. Our motivation to better ourselves never stays constant - we have to constantly find energy to fuel our move towards change. Don't be discouraged if you find that you are not too enthusiastic about what you're working towards for a few days or even weeks. The trick is to surround yourself with triggers- find a buddy who is aware of your goal, find pictures, quotes, music - anything that lights that spark in you and gets you going again.

4. Have Role Models

Find someone in your environment who has the qualities or habits that you are looking to incorporate in yourself. Make a note of what this person does to maintain this trait or habit, and try to adopt the same approach. If this is someone you know, try and talk to them about how they maintain this practice. For instance, if you have always admired a colleague's dressing sense and wanted to emulate that trait - note the attention that this person pays to their dressing sense, the time the invest in choosing their wardrobe, the money they set aside to invest in the same, the places they visit to shop. Making the same kind of effort that they do will eventually pay off for you as well.

5. It's Okay To Have Slip Ups

Remember, while you are in hot pursuit of growing and developing yourself, there may be days when your goal seems far away or seems unattainable. When you have days like this or slip into old habits, remember that this is natural and normal - no change happens instantly and easily. Every big change takes time, and sometimes slip-ups are part of this process. Acknowledge this, don't give yourself a hard time and move on.

6. Review Your Goals

As we set out to achieve our goals, we find that many different things might come in the way of our targets. Review your goals periodically and see what methods are working for you, and always keep your eyes and ears open for new ways to try working towards your goal. For example, if you decide at the start of the year to exercise thrice a week after work but find that you are getting too tired to go through with exercise at the end of your work day, tweak your approach a bit. Try another time to exercise, such as the mornings. Or, choose to exercise on days where your workload is not too stressful. The key is to be flexible in your approach.

If you would like to discuss this further or need some help or support in this or any other area, our counsellors would be happy to help.

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