Happy New Year! It has been months since my last post because despite my intentions of writing regularly, I let things get in the way of achieving this goal. This is a pattern with many of the goals I had set for myself in 2023, so I decided that something needed to change. During the last two weeks of the year, I had the opportunity to unplug from work and evaluate different aspects of my life where I felt unhappy about where I was in my journey and took a hard look at why I had failed to make progress or find success. Overall, I found that not only I was lacking motivation, persistence, and resilience, but I needed to change my outlook to find success. Why do I mean by this? It means that I need to visualize success in each area to find the motivation to achieve my goals. This way I can overcome the self-doubt that naturally comes when I am trying to achieve significant change. I also need a positive outlook that is resilient to the obstacles and challenges I face in my life. So, easier said than done but I will give it a try.
As we start another year, I am back at setting goals in three key areas: health & fitness, finances, and relationships. In each area, I have defined 3 SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant & Time-Bound) goals with defined success metrics, action plans, and progress reporting. So instead of just losing weight, I have a goal to reduce my BMI by 12 points with a target weight by September 30, 2024, along with action plans to achieve the goal (which I review and update as needed) and weekly status reporting to measure progress. I decided to treat every goal like a mini project with defined objectives, success metrics and progress reporting to increase my chances of success. Another one of my goals, is around my finances, specifically reducing discretionary expenses (e.g., food, entertainment, self-care, etc.) by 10% with a target date of June 30th that will give me 6 months of data to compare my spending and see how much savings I have realized (sadly, this means less Starbucks for me). It will also be an opportunity to celebrate victories along the way. What are some of your goals for the year and do you have specific action plans to achieve them?
Another aspect of my goal-setting process for this year is the art of manifesting to master getting what I want which goes along the lines of visualizing success. If you are not familiar with manifesting, it is defined in simple terms as turning a goal into a reality. I have been reading “Project 369 – The Key to the Universe” (https://369project.com) to learn more about manifesting. For me specifically, is looking at what I need to change to become the person that I visualize successfully achieving those goals. By believing that I am deserving of the things I desire, and I am actively working towards while staying true to myself, I look to overcome the self-doubt and limiting thoughts that impair my abilities to be successful. Having a positive outlook can also help me look at the hardships in my life as blessings in disguise and learning opportunities, instead of obstacles that are preventing me from reaching my goals. Deep gratitude for what I have is another area that I am actively working on improving as this helps put things into perspective when things don’t go as planned. Have you ever tried manifestation? I would love to hear from others as I’m still learning and there is so much information out there.
I know (not hope) that this new approach at setting my goals for the new year (a.k.a. New Year’s Resolutions) will bring the success I have failed to achieve in previous years and will be part of the new me I’m working towards.
Hope 2024 brings health, joy, and prosperity and together we manifest into reality our greatest desires. What desires are you manifesting in 2024?
Let’s keep each other accountable by sharing how we’re planning to meet our goals (“resolutions”) this year. Is there anything you’re doing differently? Please share, I would love to hear and learn from you.
Wishing you success in achieving your goals this year!
Larissa
The Single Mom Life 