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The new year can be a great time to reflect on the previous year and set new goals. I felt now would be a great time to share some tips regarding effective goal setting since people don’t typically stick to their new years resolutions, in part based on how they choose to set goals.
Goal setting tips:
1. Focus on the process not the outcome–This is a crucial step in creating successful and achievable goals. For example:
-Goals related to health and wellness that are process oriented tend to be things like, “I will workout with moderate intensity at least 4 days per week.” “I will eat vegetables at least twice per day 6 days per week.” These types of goals are much more effective than outcome goals such as: “I will lose 10 pounds in 3 weeks.”
-Goals related to work or school performance that are process oriented tend to be goals such as, “I will attend at least 1 study session per week.” “I will study my notes 30 minutes per day during school days.” or “I will complete important work tasks for 30 minutes minimum before I open up work emails.” These process goals tend to be more helpful than outcome goals such as, “I will get an A in my class.” or “I will get an excellent work performance review in 3 months.”
-Typically the more we focus on solid process goals that are in our control, we feel more positive and usually will reach our outcome goals! This is consistent as well with the idea of working towards excellence and not perfection since striving for excellence sets us up for success while pursuits for perfection just tend to negatively affect people’s mood and persistence.
2. Celebrate successes–Our brains are not wired to celebrate and hold onto successes the same way that our brains are wired to hold onto negative things and focus on finding new solutions. This means that it is critical that we create systematic ways to not only focus on positives such as completion of achievements and goals, but that we also find ways to bring these successes to the top of our mind. Some of my favorite ways to do this is to reflect on positives and successes with others in conversations and through journaling or other written methods.
One of my favorite ways to capture achievements is to capture something in a photograph and write on the back regarding what the achievement was, how you felt about it in the moment, and what you want to hold onto regarding the experience. A great way to do this as a family can be in drawing pictures or finding photos that fit with little and big achievements throughout the year. I find that reviewing a calendar or asking others can be a great way to remember and reflect on things that our brain shifts away from the forefront, but that we know can be incredibly helpful to reflect on.
3. Set goals that are longer in nature–The research shows that the average time that is needed to make something a habit is 66 days. This means that it is more helpful to set a smaller goal that you will consistently work towards for 66 days than to set a larger goal that you want to accomplish in a couple weeks.
Hope that this information helps. The last thing I will say is that to even aspire for more and set a process to move in that direction is a pursuit worth feeling proud of. Good luck in your goals in 2022!