The Wonderful World of Minotaur

I’ve given up on New Year’s resolutions. In my late teens and early twenties, I swore by them. But as I got older and started feeling more bound by time limits, I decided to free myself from it all. There’s nothing wrong with setting timelines for yourself, but a year is not always enough time to make drastic changes. 

What I do instead now is set goals. I try to keep them as realistic as possible and be strict with sticking to them while also not putting too much pressure on myself. Here are some of my top tips when it comes to setting realistic goals for yourself:

• Don’t put too much pressure on yourself – You might have heard the saying ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’. Things take time. Set vague timelines but don’t be too hard on yourself if you don’t reach them. Life can sometimes get in the way and things get thrown off all the time. Your only job is to work your hardest, do your best and show up for yourself. 
• Create categories – Back when I used to make resolutions, I’d split them into categories. This helped me better understand what areas I wanted to improve in. Some of the categories were mind, body, relationships (familial, platonic and romantic), finance, career, hobbies, faith, self-care. You’ll know what categories best fit the goals you’re setting for yourself. 
• Set smaller goals for your bigger goal – So now you have a bunch of goals under each category. The best way to ensure that goal is attainable and within reach is to break it down into actionable steps. For example, if under the category ‘career’ your goal is to get a new job, the smaller goal could be to send out X job applications a week. 
•  Have regular check-ins with yourself – Set a reminder every month or every quarter to go back to your goals and see what you’ve achieved. Sometimes you don’t realise that you’re making progress until you sit with yourself and go through everything you’ve done since setting your goals. 
• Have an accountability partner – If you know it’s hard for you to stick to things, find someone you know can hold you accountable. It could be your strictest friend or a no-nonsense family member. Find someone who will lovingly keep you on the right path. 
• Don’t give up – Sometimes it can seem like life is against you and you just can’t win. You take three steps forward and five steps back. Keep going. It’s ok to take time out to regroup and take care of yourself, but don’t stop. Don’t let life get you down. If you keep working at it, you’ll reach your goal someday.