The saying new year, new you never gets old, and its popular for a reason. Whether it’s a career change, moving to a new area, building a business, or another personal goal, a new year can be a great time to start a new change because of how it can feel like a fresh start to improve our lives with exciting opportunities.
But that hopeful feeling can wear off as time goes by, especially if you realized that you haven’t don’t anything to make the change you were going for.
Even though starting something new can feel scary, it doesn’t have to take big risks and anxious moves. Move through the new year at your own pace, and find what works for you to make the changes thatyou’ve dreamed of. Read on to find pieces of advice that you can apply to.
Use Passions as Motivation
Setting ambitious goals can feel great in the beginning, and having intrinsic motivations can help with focusing on the journey when our goals can feel tough.
Intrinsic motivations are led by internal values and give us a sense of satisfaction and enjoyment. An example of a goal that’s motivated by an intrinsic value can be going into a nursing field out of curiosity, novelty and practicing skills that you enjoy. This is different from an external motivation, that can include getting paid for a job or receiving praise from a coworker.
Motivations that come from within us can allow you to focus on the journey rather than the destination when things don’t go our way. Setting a big goal (like losing weight) can take months and require trial and error when one effort doesn’t lead to immediate results. Going back to a passion that you have fun with can make all of the challenges worth it. After all, our resolutions are meant as a way to use our strengths and explore what it is we really want to do in our lives.
Break Goals Down Into Actionable Steps
Setting smaller goals that you can achieve throughout the year can ease on our adrenaline and allow for a more balanced lifestyle.
Our goals should feel personal and true to us, even imaginative and something from our dreams. So, breaking down our resolution can be a roadmap to finding inspiration when we’re stuck on how to get there.
You can start by writing a list of actionable steps you can take to get there over time. Be mindful of how long it can take to reach your goal, too. Start with a year as a basic timeframe, and be realistic on the steps to take.
For nurses that want to go back to graduate school, some small steps to take might be:
- Researching what schools to go to
- Determining if they’re a right fit for your vocation
- Finding contacts to ask for letters of recommendation
- Deciding how to study while working full-time
Remember that you don’t have to do these steps now, or even in the next couple of months. This is just a helpful practice that can give you perspective on what you can do to prepare yourself in the future.
Stay Flexible When Things Go Wrong
Of course, life happens, and things can go wrong because well, we’re human. A child gets sick, we need to shell out money for car repairs, etc, etc.
Staying flexible when we face life’s unpredictable moments is a great skill to have when events and plans go sideways. Plan in advance what to do in case of hardships. See if you’re willing to be flexible to extend your timeline to go back to school next year if you’re a busy parent, or wait a couple of months to go to the gym if you can’t stand the influx of crowds in January.
Notice What Strategies Work
Searching for new year’s resolutions can give us too many strategies and techniques on what is the best way to achieve our New Year goals.
Everyone is different, so experiment with different ways and find what better suits you. One person might like to plan ahead and prepare themselves before starting something new, while another would prefer to wing it and hope for the best. There is no right or wrong way to achieve a goal.
Noticing if a strategy works doesn’t just include productivity, but what feels good too. A technique probably isn’t working if we get a lot of work done but it makes us feel depleted after.
Listen to your body and notice what comes up for you when you’re one step closer to reaching your dreams. Do you feel excited and motivated, or are you constantly feeling dread and disappointment? These cues are your body telling you what you need to know.
Find Your Support System
Lastly, ask friends, family, or whoever you can for advice and encouragement. Social support can be essential to finding success. They can give us an outside perspective, or motivate us when we’re not feeling up to making progress.
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