My older cousin said it best: you don’t have to wait for a new year to change, better yourself, or make new goals you’d like to accomplish. But, if you’re like most people, you probably believe a new year means a fresh start, and I don’t blame you. I feel the same way. So, I’d like to help you make coming up with goals, your word of the year, and resolutions easier for you.
Creating Your Own Resolutions
If you read my 2018 resolutions blog post, you may recall that I gave important advice for creating your resolutions and goals for the new year. This included:
Make your resolutions as specific and attainable as possible.
Writing down why you want to achieve your resolutions and the outcome of those resolutions will make it that much easier to achieve.
You don’t have to make a long list of goals you want to accomplish. You always can add more goals!
Keeping these three things in mind will help you focus on the goals you truly want to accomplish for the new year.
My 2018 Resolutions and Results
Publish a blog post at least twice per month.
Didn’t happen. I took a pretty long break from writing, actually. Recently though, I’ve been writing and publishing more content than I thought I would, so I’m happy with the results of that.
Stick with my editorial calendar.
I tried to create an editorial calendar that would force me to publish content on certain dates, which didn’t really work. So, I tweaked my editorial calendar to include the idea of the blog post, its category, what I want its title to be, when I published the post, and the status of the post. Having a status column helps me know which blog post I want to write next and if it’s finished or not. That way, I’m not pressured to spit out a blog post on a certain date. I can brainstorm what I want to say and make sure I’m pleased with the outcome.
Join Planet Fitness.
Oh, I joined Planet Fitness alright. I only went like 3 times in 2018.
Go to the gym at least 4 or 5 times per month.
Nope, haha. Didn’t do this. Not having a reliable form of transportation made it hard to actually want to go to the gym. Then, when I got a reliable mode of transportation, I still didn’t feel like going. I’m still working on a way to get me motivated to work out.
What do I want my YouTube channel to be about?
I’m taking a pretty long break away from YouTube. I don’t think I have the same love for it that I used to have. I don’t want to forcibly put energy toward something that doesn’t bring me that much joy, so I’m going to leave YouTube alone for a while.
Create a schedule for my YouTube channel.
Refer to #5.
Create a budget that works for me and try to stick to it.
I finally created a budgeting system that works for me, and it only took 10 months to do it. I tried Mint, YNAB, and pen and paper. Mint never worked for me, and that’s ok. You Need a Budget (YNAB) was great for a while, but I found myself getting lost keeping up with my transactions, changing the dates of those transactions, and my saving goals that I wasn’t even focused on budgeting anymore. Then, I tried putting my budget on pen and paper, which worked for a little while. Eventually, I came up with a great budgeting plan that I want to stick with for as long as possible. I keep track of my daily transactions (excluding bill payments) in my personal ring-bound planner and deduct from the corresponding category in my Google Sheets budget. I’ll write a blog post on this later.
Pay more than my student loan amount while I am still living at home.
I increased my student loan payment by a little bit while I lived at home, and then I realized that it still wasn’t taking care of the interest like I wanted it to. So, one night, I calculated the daily interest each loan accrued and added that amount to my monthly student loan payment. Sure, I have less spending money than I’d like, but it’ll be worth it in the long run!
My 2019 Goals and Resolutions
The words I want to live by in 2019 are accomplish and consistency.
I have several goals I want to accomplish to improve my mental and physical health and to get me ahead in my career in Digital Marketing.
I want to be consistent in my work, career goals, blog, social media, and personal life.
In the planner community, a person I follow on Instagram created one over-arching goal she wanted to accomplish for each month. I think this is a brilliant idea! Breaking down your goals into segments helps make them even more attainable.
Goals:
Accomplish and Consistency: Go to the gym at least twice a month to relieve stress and anxiety (and to flatten my stomach).
Consistency: Publish at least 1 blog post every month.
Accomplish: Put at least $300 into my savings account every pay period in order to build a nice nest egg for emergencies and large expenses in the future.
Accomplish: Put an additional $2,000 toward each of my student loans at the end of the year to significantly reduce my debt and accruing interest.
Accomplish: Read at least one book per month because I’ve been slacking on my reading.
Accomplish: See a therapist. There’s nothing wrong with therapy and talking to someone who can help sift through your concerns or problems from an outside perspective.
Accomplish: Get the raise I want and deserve.
Accomplish: Apply for an online Masters of Science degree in Marketing to advance my career in Digital Marketing
Consistency: Check in with these goals every month. I don’t want to forget what I want to accomplish and achieve.
Remember, even if you only have one goal, it’s always worth it to do a monthly, weekly, or daily check-in or reflection to see your progress.
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