Happy 2023 Friends!
In the past, the phrase "New Year, New You" was a trigger for me.
I interpreted it as something has gone wrong or that I am somehow broken or need to be fixed.
Mamas…
We are not broken and there is nothing to fix; and, we are enough exactly as we are.
With that in mind…
We also have the power to choose the results we create for ourselves in all areas of our lives.
We get to decide if and how we want to take better care of ourselves {mind and body}.
We get to live the life we envision for ourselves, one step forward at a time.
And we become a more self-confident, self-compassionate and self-empowered woman in the process!
It starts with setting goals.
Why is goal setting important?
We all have human brains.
And our human brains need direction.
Left to its own devices, our primitive brain (our survival brain) will continue to do what it’s always done (it loves routine).
This part of our brain wants to seek pleasure and avoid pain. And, it wants to steer clear of doing anything that it considers hard, because it’s trying to protect us. That’s it’s job.
But, we have another part of our brain, our prefrontal cortex, that is responsible for higher level thinking. We can tap into this part of our brain to plan ahead and move us forward toward the results we want to create for ourselves.
When it comes to taking better care of ourselves {mind and body}, no matter how we choose to define that for ourselves, we have a better chance of making that happen if we set a goal and deliberately make a plan to achieve it.
This approach works for long-term goals and short-term goals too {like stopping the dinnertime scramble*}.
There are generally four steps to goal setting {and goal getting}.
1. Be crystal clear with what you want to achieve.
Take 10 minutes to brainstorm and narrow it down to one goal at a time. This doesn’t mean that you abandon everything else in your life, it just means that this one goal is in the forefront of your mind and your actions.
Be specific and include a deadline. Don’t stress about the date, you can always bump it out as you make consistent, forward progress.
2. Brainstorm the reasons why you want to achieve the goal.
You really need to love your “whys”. They don’t need to be profound, they just need to resonate deeply with you.
Your “whys” will motivate you when your brain comes up with obstacles, which is inevitable because we have a human brain that wants to press the easy button.
3. Make a specific plan for achieving that goal. What do you need to do {or not do} to achieve that goal.
Make a list and prioritize a few for each week. Once those are solid, add a couple more. You don’t need to integrate everything at once! And it’s okay if you don’t know how to do everything up front, this is normal and you’ll figure it out along the way.
4. Anticipate the obstacles that might come up along the way and identify strategies to overcome them.
As we take action toward our goals, we do NOT need to follow our plan perfectly.
Kick the “all or nothing” mentality to the curb. It is not serving you.
Keep moving forward- even when you face setbacks (and you can be sure you’ll face setbacks).
Consistency, not perfection, is the key to forward progress. Stack the small steps for big gains!
If taking better care of yourself is on your 2023 agenda, check out my new {FREE} guide here:
Bonus: go to the link above for my goal setting workbook {more goal setting nuggets and a pretty workbook to write it all down}!
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