The new year always brings about a fresh energy and opportunity to set new goals for what we’d like out of the year ahead. Whether you are looking to set goals around your health, career, relationships, finances, or something else entirely, these are some great goal setting tips to help you set goals that you can actually achieve this year.

Before you work on those goals for the new year, start by reflecting on the past year and any goals you set. What felt good last year, what didn’t, what do you want to have more of in the new year, and what do you want less of? Think about the goals you set last year and ask yourself why you were you able to make them happen or not?

Instead of just thinking about things you want to do, try thinking more about how you want to feel. What would help you achieve that feeling? If you want to feel more calm and balanced in the new year, you may think about starting a consistent meditation practice in order to achieve that feeling. If you want to feel more energized to play with your kids, you may work at creating a healthier lifestyle.

If you really enjoy setting goals, you can try setting goals based on category. These categories could include career, personal, family, finance, etc. Then within each category, what would you like to work on?

SMART goals stand for specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely. Creating SMART goals allows you to help ensure you’re clear on the goal, that you can track your success to that goal, and that they’re challenging but not out of reach.

Here are some examples of SMART goals:

It’s okay if some goals need to change. Whether that be because they no longer resonate in a month or life throws something your way. You don’t need to worry about forcing your goals to happen but instead let them go and settle into one that resonates.  If 2020 taught us anything, it’s to be flexible. This is also where all of these other tips, especially asking yourself more how you want to feel can be really beneficial.

Our team does this every year! We each choose a word for the year that is the filter in which we work. This word may encompass how you want to feel, the general theme of your year ahead, and even the goals in which you’re working.