It's that time a year again. January 1st, or the day that the majority of people decide it's time to reinvent themselves. The new year creates an aspiration within people to set new goals for themselves. They ask...

1) How can I be better?

2) What are my goals for this year?

3) How can I reach these goals?

               

The basic mindset after setting their new aspirations: "Give it my all. 100%. Nothing less." The idea of the difficulty and struggles that are strung on to these goals are masked by their hope, excitement, and desire to become the 2.0 version of themselves. Hope gives people a sense of power that motivates them to try and fulfill what they're hoping for. When they start to see that the road to improvement is not a walk in the park, they begin to lose hope.  With each failed attempt, these goals begin to look unrealistic and unreachable. Eventually, they just let go and turn back to their lifestyle before the new year even began. They set these goals on a shelf in hopes that the next year will be different. What people need to see is that a goal can't reached by going cold-turkey. It's like a quitting a habit. It won't happen over the course of a day or so.

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The new big question: How can I give myself the best chance at reaching the goals I have set up?

At first, people tend to set these gigantic goals that's a far leap from where they're starting. Whether you're trying to lose weight or stop being a procrastinator, it's about setting smaller goals that eventually lead to the big goal you first started off with. Don't expect everything to happen extremely quickly because by doing so, you're probably setting yourself up for failure. You need to reward yourself when reaching your "mini-goals". If it's trying to lose weight, after you reach a certain amount of weight, reward yourself with an indulgence. It shouldn't be a major indulgence that sets you back in your tracks; nor should it be an indulgence too small to feel like a reward. The most important thing to learn is to not quit. Your desire to quit is your enemy. When you take a step back, don't let it stop you. It's like losing a battle. You can lose a few, but win many. You may find yourself low on hope and on the verge of surrendering to your enemy, but take a look at the bigger picture; what's in store for the future once you've reached your goal. You keep going and when you do, you find yourself to be the winner of the war. (I know it sounds cheesy, but it's true) Like many others, I find that completing a task that I struggled with and believed I couldn't achieve is one of the biggest rewards itself.

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Other tips for achieving your goal:

1) Find a way to remind you of the significance of your goal

2) Get others with similar goals involved

3) Don't set up too many major goals (It's hard to juggle everything at once; esp. if it involves changing)