Day 5 of a New Year for a New You: Effective Goal-Setting

I want to wish you and yours a spectacular New Year! 2015 is here! It’s going to a good one; I can tell.

Welcome back to Day 5 of the 7-Day New Year for a New You series. We’re wrapping up with intentional goal-setting, and I know these theories, practices and prompts are going to spill over onto my blog throughout the rest of the month. I’m a planner, and this is my time!

If you’re just joining me, it’s easy to catch up! Simply gather the prompts from days …

:: 1    :: 2    :: 3    :: 4    … and go at your own pace.

Each day, I work through the previous day’s prompts and then offer a new set for us to work on. Yesterday we were talking about intentional goal-setting, and we’ll spend the rest of the series working on follow-through and making these big dreams come true.

As I work through the series this year (it’s the third annual), I realize that I’ve experienced the exact same setbacks each year. I keep repeating the same mistakes! I’m flipping the calendar and really wondering: what if I don’t screw up my finances, engage in unhealthy relationships and overindulge in wine, lady locks and #realityTV this year? What would happen?! I don’t even know, but CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.

The following are the answers to the question: What do I want from 2015? Based on the five pillars for Harmonic Wealth by James Arthur Ray.

:: Financial: It’s time to get my financial train onto the right set of tracks. My goal is to increase my income (I’ve named an exact number), and pay down my debt (I’ve added it all up and I know the specific amount I need to erase it). That’s my main financial focus for 2015.

:: Spiritual: More please! Quite honestly, when I’m connected spiritually, I feel like I could fly away on a cloud of love, prosperity and blessings. It’s truly a very joyful place for me. I find that bliss through mindful practices: yoga, meditation, studying spiritual texts and journaling. While that’s the most rejuvenating way to end the day, it’s not always the easiest. Checking out in front of the TV watching junk programming with a glass of wine is much easier. It’s a quicker way to turn off, but it doesn’t fully recharge my batteries the way winding down in a cleaner, healthier way does.

:: Mental: Over the years, I’ve tried to learn more by reading more, and I’ve covered a lot of material. That said, I can see – by reviewing my last three New Year for a New You series – that I’m not retaining as much as I like to think I am. Lessons are read and quickly forgotten. I’m going to spend 2015 going over all important texts at least twice.

For example, I’m reading Tony Robbins’ MONEY Master the Game, and there’s so much to take in. I’ve decided to read it through and then come back to it a second time to create a plan to implement what I’ve learned. There are a lot of books on my e-reader that I’ve read and forgotten. I’d like to get to some new material this year, but I may not make it because I’m going to first go back and really learn the books I’ve already read.

:: Relational: My family of six is all settled into the home we purchased in 2013. I have a goal to start traveling more and create some new experiences with them. I’d like for us all to learn to ski together. If you have any tips for how a family can get started skiing (what to buy, take a class or not?, what to look for in a resort), please share with me!

:: Physical: I want to lose weight! I’ve named an exact amount. I’ve been physically active for the last several years, but I have not been eating clean. It’s the dessert! The dessert is what always gets me. I have a plan of attack and a new Weight Watchers cookbook full of treats to replace the Little Debbie snacks and lady locks and Reese’s pie and donuts. (Most of the time. I refuse to give these things up forever.)

The exercise issued yesterday was to apply each goal above to the following list from Tony Robbins. To mind my length, I’m going to summarize all five intentions for this blog post and answer this list just once.

In all of my answers above, I realize that I’ve been operating day-by-day and seeking instant gratification, versus planning + building a better tomorrow with intention. I’ve overindulged at the feast only to struggle in the aftermath of famine.

:: What do I really want? (vision) 

I want my adventure + challenges to come from new experiences. As I said above, I keep repeating the same mistakes and then challenging myself to right my course … only to fall off the wagon again. I want to stay the course to see what new adventures await me.

:: What is important about it? (values)

I want next-level success, and I’m ready to make the right decisions and put in the hard work it requires. I choose growth + expansion versus the static “safety” of my personal comfort zone.

:: How will I get it? (methods)

I’m going to keep my goals front and center and drive directly towards them. No more with the two steps toward progress, one step backward in self-sabatoge. It’s time to test myself: How good can I stand it?

:: What is preventing me from having it? (obstacles)

Bad, long-standing habits and outworn patterns + that insatiable hunger for instant gratification.

:: How will I know I am successful? (measurements)

I’m going to create three-month outlines, a project map for every important goal, a way to check-in daily and a progress log to keep me accountable. In the next two days, I’m going to show you how to create the same for yourself.

Today’s Prompts: 

Choose a direction. Based on your answers to yesterday’s prompts, create a list of specific things you’d like to achieve in 2015. Consider the following questions:

• What are some things I could be doing that I’ve been afraid to try? How can I stretch my comfort zone?
• What would I do this year if I knew I could not fail?
• What long-term goals can I intentionally work toward this year?

Create an outline. Create a 3-month outline for what you’d like to achieve. Then, break that outline down into what you need to do this month, this week, today and right now to get started.

[Tweet “Here’s a map to your best year yet! Happy 2015!”]

Thank you for joining me for Day 5 of this 7-day series! I’ll meet you back here tomorrow with a new set of prompts + my answers to today’s list.

It’s time to make your big dreams happen already. Here’s to your best year yet,