Feeling bad that you haven’t set a New Year’s Resolution or Goal? Tips on how to do it simply and powerfully

You just checked your calendar and gasped when you realized that the end of January is fast approaching. Until now, you have not set any New Year’s Resolutions or goals. Perhaps you decided not to this year, or perhaps you still haven’t gotten around to doing it. Either way, you have a nagging feeling that you should and are feeling bad about it. Are you feeling frustrated, uncertain, or overwhelmed? If so, I’d like to offer some tips to make the process simple, effective, & as painless as possible.

If you haven’t set a new resolution or goal for the new year, first of all, forget the feeling that you ‘should’. If you feel content with the way things are going in your life and feel you are on the right track, then give yourself permission to pat yourself on the back, say ‘well done’, and continue on your merry way. You get to decide what you do and don’t do as you are the one who has to gets to live your own life.

But let’s say you decide that you really do want to set a resolution or goal for the new year. Keep in mind that New Year’s Resolutions are really just goals and an opportunity to take a look back over the previous year and assess where we stand. Then we can decide where we would like to make changes and improvements in our life as we move forward into the next year.

If you decide that you do want to make a positive change(s) in your life and want to set a goal for this new year, then I recommend that you keep the process as simple and focused as possible.

Consider the following questions:

1. What one place in your life needs the most attention?
2. What’s your greatest pain point/challenge?
3. If you could change or improve only one thing, what would it be?

Focus there, and make it your goal!

For that area/goal, ask yourself, ‘What is one small step that I could take and that seems totally doable?’ Start there.

For example, my answers to the questions were: 1) improve my self-care, 2) tired/not as much energy as I would like, 3) get more sleep. Therefore, I decided that my one small, totally doable step would be to go to bed earlier.

Next, bring your goal/ideal scenario into your mind. What would your life look like once you achieved it? With that positive image in your mind, reverse engineer your situation. Consider the actions you would need to take and the habits that you would need to change or establish in order to make your goal a reality. Break things down step-by-step.

Keep focused on this one goal, and regularly evaluate your progress. Make adjustments as needed. Aim for progress, not perfection (psst – it doesn’t exist!). Also, keep in mind that it takes time to create a new habit. Plan to focus on this one goal and your new habits for at least the next month, and ideally, for the next 2-3 months.

After that point, feel free to check in with yourself and see how you feel. Do you feel solid in your new, improved habits? If so, you can decide if you want to stay focused on this goal and these new habits or if you are ready to identify and focus on a new goal.

What do you think? Will you set and pursue a goal for the new year? Does choosing and focusing on only one goal sound effective to you?

Please share your thoughts in the comments below. I’d love to hear from you!