I'm all about being intentional--that is, being clear and specific on what it is I want to spend my time doing and achieving in the future!
That being said, I think it's highly valuable to write down the specific things you have in mind to do in the future! It seems that setting goals at the start of a new year often gets a bad rep these days, but don't let that deter you from doing so!
The most important thing, actually, is not that you set goals for the future, but that you take some time to reflect on the past as well. You want to consider questions like:
- What did I accomplish in the past 12 months?
- What things did I want to do that didn't get done?
- What things about the past did I not like?
Doing this will help provide some perspective. It will force you to take a moment to account for the past, and make you own up to the fact that maybe you didn't spend your time how you would have liked to in the past year.
With that groundwork set, you can now build upon it by setting up your goals for the year. Ideally, having taken the time to reflect on how things have played out in the past, you'll be able to set ambitious yet realistic goals for you to achieve in the coming months!
It's also not enough to simply write a one-sentence goal; you'll need to associate a concrete plan of action with it if you really are serious about getting it done. It's helpful to spell out exactly how you intend on achieving your goal, as well as setting milestones to keep yourself accountable. I call this goal-mapping. I have personally found this to be a much better approach than just speaking a goal out then hoping the stars align properly for it to get accomplished.
Here's and example of a goal map that I've made for myself in the past:
- Maximizing hair health
- HOW?
- minimize styling (no more than once per week)
- weekly deep conditioners
- monthly protein treatments
- biweekly green tea rinse
- try max hydration method (winter break)
This particular goal map was nice because I was able to set very concrete time increments for the activities associated with achieving my goal. I utilized my planner to help keep myself organized; so I filled in ahead of time the days that I needed to do different things. This was especially helpful for keeping me accountable; since it was noted in advance, I knew to prepare and plan my other errands around it in advance, leaving me with little room for excuses on why I didn't do it.
Remember, setting goals is more than just saying what you want to do. It takes both consideration of the past that led you to your current position, as well as spelling out the actions that you will take in order to take you from where you are now to where you'd like to be. If you keep that in mind, then you can set yourself up to achieve whatever it is you have in mind!
