Happy New Year!! I have had such a great 2018, starting my Junior year in High School, earning my drivers license, and making great progress on all of my goals. I can’t wait to accomplish even more in 2019. I’ve already been setting goals, like for the Girl Scout Cookie Sale and my Gold Award Project. One of my favorite New Years traditions is setting a resolution. It has become common to dismiss this as a joke, as many people set a goal to lose weight, buy a gym membership, and never go through with it. However, I think that this is a great opportunity to really set goals for yourself and want to give you some tips for achieving your New Years Resolutions.
- Set reasonable goals for yourself While you may want to do something, sometimes it may not be achievable. It is up to you to determine what you are realistically capable of. You should always set goals to challenge yourself, but never past what you think you can do. I would never set a goal to read an entire novel in an hour, I know that I’m just not capable of reading that fast, but I could set a goal to read it by the end of the week or month. I know I could do that and have enough time to enjoy the book
- Make a plan for how to accomplish them In my speeches, I have always talked about how important tracking my sales were for me for the Girl Scout Cookie Sale. Every year, I set my large goal, then break it down to see how many I need to sell each week, day, and hour (this also helps me determine if it is a reasonable goal). By setting this plan, I achieve many things. First of all, I’ve made the goal look a lot easier to reach by breaking it up into bite size pieces. I have also determined how many hours I need to spend working on my goal.
- Set a deadline “A goal is just a dream with a deadline”-Napoleon Hill By setting a deadline for yourself, it is a lot more difficult to procrastinate forever. It is a lot harder to say “I can do this tomorrow” if you have set a deadline of having it done by tonight. Just imagine how many projects that you wouldn’t have completed if you didn’t have a deadline. Same goes for personal goals- if you find that you’re not completing them, set a deadline for yourself.
- Have an accountability partner Having someone to remind you to accomplish your goals is a great idea. Nobody is perfect, we can forget sometimes or just not be in the mood to do anything that day, so sometimes all you need is a little nudge from a friend to help you along in your goal.