With February on our doorstep and January this year somehow feeling like it was 850 days long, but also somehow 2 days long (I mean the past year was a complete time warp that I am not even going to try to understand) it’s already bothering me that I have not made a real attempt to stick to any of the goals that I had set myself to have down pat this year.
Yeah I know, it’s super early into the year and there is still so, so much hope… But I also know myself and I know that if I want to do something or reach something bad enough, I will just get that shit done. I am generally good at understanding what I want and why, then getting certain events and activities in place to make sure I get there or achieve that goal. Previous years, I set myself up for failure with the whole New Year’s resolutions stuff, especially if it involved any kind of bs diet/weight loss/aesthetic/fitness goal, or really anything that would have been too much of a life change. Because to me, achieving this goal looked something like, I would need to make this change in my life fast and see something quick, or I will lose momentum. I think we all know now that this framework does not work, and it is why so many crash diets do not work (and normally do more harm than good, but that is another story).
Oh wow, I see you’re a massive goal setter (jokes)
I haven’t really got any big goals in mind right now, I do want this to change though. I generally feel like the big goals I can find a bit easier to achieve if I put my mind to it. But the small, incremental tasks that should be a breeze and help me reach these goals with ease, so effortlessly escape my grasp and it really frustrates me. So, we are focusing on the small stuff to work on.
The couple of goals that I had set for myself to work towards are achievable, realistic and all the other good SMART goals stuff. Guys, these are my goals… they’re not exactly ‘gaining a doctorate’ worthy…
- Read more. I am talking about full, big, substantial and meaty books this year and unfortunately, perusing my Instagram feed does not count towards the stats here
- Get flexible! And I don’t mean as a personality trait. The aim here is to get my yoga and mobility skills to a level that I am happy with. The days of my body being sore from just sitting have gotta go
Honestly, can I just get my shit together?
I know that I need to do both of these activities consistently and overtime the rewards will come through and I will reach my cultured yogi goalzzzz.
The way forward has something to do with habits
Rule #1: If you’re going to make a goal, you need to focus on the habits
I read half of James Clear’s book Atomic Habits last year, so I know what I am talking about in this bit (lol its a goal to read more, so I will finish this book eventually…). Basically, what we know from goal setting and reaching your goal is all about the systems you put in place to reach the goal, as well as the bit I love the most is that you ‘have to love the process’. This bit really makes the most sense to me because setting the goal is one thing, and it’s nice to write it down and all. But it’s the ability to get there which is driven by how frequently and efficiently you carry out positive actions, that will actually make you reach that goal. Anyway, I am probably doing the world’s shittest attempt to sell this. So if you haven’t read the book yet, definitely grab it or you can watch this youtube video ‘Why Goals Fail! Atomic Habits Will Change Your Life’ by Brittany Vasseur
Putting two and two together
So, I have the goals that I want to achieve this year – reading and yoga (oh boy, this is literally the most basic thing I have said in a while, but I did warn you that these were not exactly reaching for the stars) and I know the systems that I need to put in place to make these goals almost routine like or some would say a habit. Now I just need to figure out a way that makes me actually want to do these without it feeling like a chore, or that doing it will mean that I need to sacrifice something else that I want or need to do. Guys, I have faith in me, I will get my shit together this year. I know you’re invested now, so I will keep you posted.
Thanks for reading,
Mel x