My whole life I felt the pressure of making goals when January would come around. But I don’t think I ever had awareness around what type of goal I should even set.
Because if you’re like me, you may have set extreme goals. I set goals that
included waking up two hours earlier, the opposite of mindful eating, and balanced exercise. The problem is that I was trying to change something that wasn’t realistic and what society was telling me.
Then February would come around, and I hadn’t come close to hitting those goals because they weren’t meant to be hit in the first place. Then the feelings of shame and let down would surface.
It wasn’t until my late 20’s that January would come around, and I started to realize that goals should benefit your life in a healthy balanced way. That I couldn’t become “more” worthy because I was already worthy as I am. Instead, I started to make goals that changed my mindset to increase my sense of self. I began to make simple daily goals that pushed me forward in the way I wanted to show up every day.
Here are a few examples of goals I have set:
- Wake up 10 minutes earlier to take a few deep breaths, and decide how I want to feel that day.
- Daily gratitude- made simple: writing down a quick thought or simply noting gratitude in my head.
- Speaking kindly to myself, especially when my old stories come up.
- Choosing to embrace new experiences and learning to let go of control.
Here are a few of my tips when making daily goals:
- Make it simple, don’t overcomplicate it.
- Don’t be too rigid in your goals; life happens, and sometimes you have to let go of the plan you had that day.
- Don’t make goals thinking you will become worthy if you hit them. That’s a big plan for feeling let down
- Make goals that help you have a more profound sense of self.
The difference I have felt from going from the old unrealistic goals to the new simple daily goals – is learning to live more intentionally in the present moment. I challenge you to set a few minutes aside and think of daily goals to help you cultivate the way you want to feel and show up daily.