Helping You Reach Goals in 2024
Just because the calendar rolls over to January 1 doesn’t mean all the things dragging you down the year before are gone and you have a clean slate. Many people experience depression during the holidays and in the new year due to the pressure of “starting over.” Our challenges from the year before do not understand the calendar change, and without action, then linger. This doesn’t mean you can’t have positive goals for 2024, which you can reach!
During a Foundation planning meeting, a Trustee mentioned starting a “happiness campaign.” I loved the idea. Although it is not our focus this year, I decided to start my own happiness campaign. My campaign includes making small, even incremental, changes to help you reach my 2024 goals. Here are some ideas and things I do that I wanted to share with you:
Journal - Writing out frustrations and possible solutions helps with clarity. It’s similar to meditating. You are focusing on goals, issues or ideas and nothing else when you write. It helps to clear the palate of your mind. It also helps to have it written down to refer to later.
To-Do Lists - Make daily / weekly to-do lists to track your changes.
Plan - Write out your plan. What is the plan to reach a specific goal? Even if you write it in ink doesn’t mean you can’t change it later. Be flexible. Make a short-term plan and a long-term plan. I often go back and review my past resolutions and business plans to see if I am on track and then adjust from there.
Solicit help from someone - Find a friend, a mentor, a family member, a coach, or a therapist and set up a weekly session. Share your ideas, goals, etc. with them and ask them to help you stay focused. It can be as simple as having a call or coffee meet up once a week to say hi and the person asking how you are doing on your goals.
Focus on one thing at a time - Focus on one project, one goal at a time, calendar items and remind yourself to stay on task. It doesn’t mean you can’t accomplish all of your goals for 2024, but focusing helps you accomplish one at a time.
I have some lofty goals for 2024, and I have tried to be specific in my resolutions. In being specific and giving myself timelines, I can make progress, no matter how incremental. I make a to-do list, not necessarily daily, but it gives me steps toward my overall goals. If it takes me two days to complete my to-do list, great, if it takes me a week or two, that’s okay. I don’t beat myself up over it. I finish everything and start my next to-do list.
Making someone else aware of my goals helps me be accountable. I usually share my goals with a mentor or someone I feel supported by who helps me clarify my goals even further. Each person has a different perspective and approach that I can glean ideas from.
Try to think outside the box when it comes to your own happiness campaign. Your goals should not be a burden, so focusing on the positives, no matter how small, can move the needle toward meeting your 2024 goals.
The Wendi Atwood Rogers Foundation is here to help. If you know a group that is interested in learning more about mentoring, let us know. We are happy to educate or help start a mentor program.
Happy 2024!
Happy 2024!
