Why I’m Not Calling Them Goals

Hi Y’all!

Typically in the end of December I set out all of my journals, agendas notebooks and such and write out all of my goals for the upcoming year, and as we are now about halfway through January this is the time I usually let all of those journals, agendas and goals collect dust in a dark back corner.

There is something about the word goals that just holds this weird power over me. Like in the back of my mind I don’t want to let this word ‘goal’ take such control so I just don’t, for better or for worse.

This year I decided no goals.. instead I decided I needed to call it lifestyle changes! Honestly changing up how I think about it has really helped me stick to it.

Instead of getting out my journal and writing down an extensive list of every single ‘goal’ I wanted to achieve this year, I opened up my journal, sat down with a hot cup of coffee and reflected on how I want my life to look.

I wrote out my ideal morning routine, night routine and how I wanted my perfect day to look both work day and weekend.

This really helped me find out how I want to spend my time and what things I value in my life.

I think when we think of the word goals we immediately go to making these huge long lists of things we want to achieve or do and end up going from 0 to 100 because we see people around us, either physically or virtually, who are doing all of these things.

Example, if we decide that we want to workout more we schedule in workouts almost every single day of the week because less than that doesn’t measure up to what we see. I think we all need to steer away from that mentality.

Easier said then done thats for damn sure but a big tip I have is to tell a minimal amount of people about what you are choosing to add to your routine or any change you are implementing.

Sounds really weird I KNOW but hear me out.

For me when I tell a whole bunch of people that I’m going to workout more, it’s great to have the support of a large amount of people BUT when I miss a day I immediately think I have failed and I just completely drop it and stop focusing on that goal.

Now I do choose two people to be my ‘accountability partner’ it is nice to talk about the milestones I’m meeting!

I have been keep track of the daily changes I am making and at the end of the week it’s been really nice to see progress! See how I said progress and not perfection. We need to remember that change takes time.

This one might be an unpopular opinion but another quick tip I have is to NOT schedule things too far in advance.

I usually plan things out weekly, on Sundays! From there, every morning I take another quick look and make sure everything can get done and if not it get’s removed from my calendar.

I find if I plan things out monthly I get very overwhelmed which again causes me to just toss it by the wayside. I also don’t tend to do a daily glance over at my to-do list when I plan to far in advance because I get confident and overly proud of putting it out there and at that point I deem it enough.

If you’re someone who tends to fall off their ‘goals’ quickly I encourage you to really take a deep look and see if what you are planning aligns with your core values! And think about them as more of a lifestyle change then a goal!

Let me know if you plan to adjust your lifestyle choices to reflect your core values!