I always feel good when I set some practical goals to work towards. It gives me direction and set’s me on a path to fulfillment. Experience has taught me it’s better to do this a few times throughout the year. This way the goals are mostly smaller and more realistic. Today I’ve set myself four super simple goals and I know I will feel good if I practice them for at least the next two weeks. Before I get into them I’m going to list some useful tips on the art of setting goals.
Break them down into clear categories. For instance my new goals are divided into fitness, health, bucket list and work. This way you commit to important areas of your life, creating a balance between the fun and serious stuff. Be kind to yourself. I’m incredibly self critical which is something I’m trying to work on. Because of this I avoid aesthetic goals such as weight. Positive affirmations involve placing some kind of visual reminder where you can see it often. For instance if you dream of owning your own home. Find a picture of a house that you can imagine yourself living in and stick it on your fridge. Every time you see the picture simply imagine yourself living there. This is proven to be effective but try to balance yourself between realistic and aspiration.
I split my realistic goals into the following categories.
Exercise – Stretch More. I am perhaps the most un-flexible person in the world. Earlier in the year I was practicing yoga every day which is super effective. Lately I’m so busy that I can’t find the time or the motivation to do an online class and I’m too tired when I get home in the evening. Instead I’m planning to commit to a 30 second forward fold at least once a day. This targets my calf muscles, hamstrings and lower back which need the most work. It’s a tiny step that feels really good and pushes me back to that yoga class.
Health – Replace 1 coffee for a herbal tea everyday. Coffee isn’t actually as unhealthy as we are lead to believe and I enjoy drinking it so I will! However I often forget to drink enough water on it’s own. Drinking a half liter of herbal tea in place of one of my coffee’s each day is good.
Bucket List – Visit Japan. I’ve never been and I really want to go. I’m not sure when this will happen so this is where the positive affirmation comes into good use. I have an autobiography called Infinity Net by the Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. I love her work and so I have placed the book on my desk where I will see it everyday. I have set the intention that the book is out as a reminder that I want to visit Japan. Now every time I look at it in the next weeks will be a reminder so I don’t forget. Hopefully the energy will attract the dream trip into my life when the timing is right.
Work – Create cue cards and learn new words in German each week. There are people in my course from different parts of the world and most of them already speak two languages. It gives me some peace of mind that they all complain that German is so difficult to learn compared with other languages. This doesn’t change the fact I want to speak perfectly instead of the rough around the edges conversations I’m currently relying on. In addition to my studies I’ve written cue cards with casual sentences and slang they don’t teach in my class.
None of these goals are unrealistic or particularly difficult but they are important to me and I would usually just forget. In a couple of weeks when I consider how I’m feeling having completed them. I will continue with some or maybe switch then up for something new. The important thing is to write this stuff down and then it becomes real instead of just another thought. Lastly, if you don’t follow through or simply forget then don’t worry about it. This should be something you want to do otherwise it’s better to focus on something else. This shouldn’t be stressful.
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