During this time of the year, I find myself, like many people, reflecting over the past year and setting goals for the coming year.  I am a firm believer in the power that setting goals can bring and how important accountability is in life, but something I have also found to be important is realizing that I am also ok just how I am.  No, I don’t believe that I am a perfect person; but I think when we just sit down and tear apart all of our imperfections we leave little room for the positive energy that is needed to truly improve ourselves.  

So here are some of the things that I do to help me set goals while keeping a positive outlook:

Remember the good things we did

We all have moments throughout the year that we deserve a pat on the back, even if you feel like you have utterly failed for the most part this is still going to be true.  So instead of only reflecting on the ways we want or need to improve, let us also focus on the things we want to repeat in the coming year. For example: I am proud of becoming more open and comfortable with who I am and not letting the fear of others opinions hold me back.  So things I want to continue to improve on in the coming year is my openness and confidence.

Having a motto for the New Year

Instead of focusing on tons of little things that I need to improve, I love to have an all-encompassing motto for the year.  I feel like this not only gives me a sense of direction for the coming a year, but helps me maintain my goals when others already start to falter. Enjoy not having a honey-do list that feels like I am nagging myself, which is how I sometimes view a long list of goals to accomplish throughout the year.  My motto for 2019 is “Do it today”. I plan to stop thinking someday or one day I will, instead I want to focus on just going for it.

Reflecting with others

True uplifting friends are sometimes hard to come by, but I have been lucky enough to find myself a few really good friends.  With these friends, I can reflect over the past year and they can help point out to me the positives of the year instead of me only focusing on the negative. I think this is very important in your goal setting and New Year’s resolutions, find people who can hold you accountable and remind you of the beautiful soul you already possess and that you are just looking to improve upon who you already are.

You are not creating a whole new you!

I think this is probably one of my most important things to remember as we set goals and plan for the new year, you shouldn’t be trying to become a whole new person!  1) it’s impossible and you shouldn’t be attempting to stop everything you are doing “wrong” or trying to be a whole different person and 2) your loved ones don’t want you to become an entirely different person!  We probably always look at others and we think we want to become them, but if we do that we will lose what makes us unique and special. Our goals should not be to become robots or a be a cookie cutter people. Revel in what makes you, you!

I am a far from a perfect person, and there are many times at the end of the year that I look back and realize that I didn’t really accomplish what I wanted to, but what I can be proud of each year is that I survived! Sometimes against all odds not only have I survived but I have thrived in the face of challenges, so in this coming year and goal setting I’m not going to dwell on all that I didn’t do.  This year I am going to realize that at the end of the day I am enough even if there are areas that I want to do better in. Having this positive outlook at the start of a new year can not only help you in accomplishing your goals, but also remind you that just because you want to improve yourself doesn’t mean you are an awful person to begin with either.