Start Preparing for Your 2024 Goals
While the idea of setting goals for the new year may energize and excite you at the start of the year, that list often feels too difficult to complete if you aren’t being strategic about it in advance.
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Boston — 2023 is coming to an end and these last few weeks should be a time to reflect, to celebrate and make peace with the past 12 months.
It's also an excellent opportunity to think about your vision for 2024. While the idea of setting goals for the new year may energize and excite you at the start of the year, that list often feels too difficult to complete if you aren’t being strategic about it in advance.
In this way, you can see a clear overview of the year better than you may be able to in January to identify strategies, establish new habits and curate experiences
Get an accountability partner
You can create a shared Google Doc or Apple Note with your accountability partner where you write down your goals, deadlines, plans and other thoughts to keep yourself organized. You can also schedule monthly check-ins to update each other on your progress.
People with accountability partners are 65% more likely to reach their goals, according to research conducted by The American Society of Training and Development.
Create a personalized process
People frequently brainstorm and create last-minute goals to feel accomplished before the start of a new year, but in instances like these, there’s never any kind of solid execution strategy or vision to support the goals.
Listing measurable steps to form a process that is attainable for you is truly the most efficient way to go. Give yourself regulated time increments that work for you and evaluate their effectiveness. Almost everyone has 20 minutes per day to work on something. If you want to achieve something, it should become your top priority and reflected in your daily routine.
The perfect time to start is now
If you wait for the perfect time to start, that is the easiest way to find yourself putting goals off until the start of the week, month or even year. At that rate, they might even get pushed off indefinitely. What happens if you don’t start “on time?” Do you wait for a whole year to roll around again?
There is no time like the present. Do it even if you don’t think you’re ready. It is normal to feel apprehensive about tackling a goal of any kind, but especially something that can change the course of your year.
It’s okay if you mess up
If you set goals that are too lofty or require an all-or-nothing state of mind, when mistakes and mess-ups happen, it will be easy to resort to giving up. Starting your goals before the new year will help you release the stress and pressure that comes with making lifestyle changes.
Don’t beat yourself up if you have a bad week or get off track. By January, you'll know what works and what doesn't, and you'll be able to apply it to your new year!
Greatness is the result of breaking goals down into smaller steps, writing them down, using creative strategies to make change.. Don't put off improving your quality of life until New Year's Eve or New Year's Day, you can always lean into the power of the present.
Trinity Alicia (she/her/hers) is a Boston-based journalist. Follow her on Twitter: @trinityaliciaa
Edited by NaTyshca Pickett