Guess what it’s December and the year is coming to an end but you still hadn’t achieve your resolution you took this year.This year I took a gym membership to get fit and guess who quit after 2 days Me!
The only possible solution to this worldwide problem is to set realistic goals but nobody tells us how .
I will not tell you what your new year resolution should be, you will decide that for yourself. I will teach you how to set your goals.
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How to set realistic goals in 3 steps
Step 1
Know yourself
You can solve a problem only after understanding it.Revisit all the things you have done this year go through your memory lane.How many promises you have done this year ? How many have you achieved? How many yet to be achieved? Tracking yourself can be very beneficial, it can help you monitor progress, identify your habits and help to achieve your goals. The things you should be tracking depends on your end goal.Here are some examples :
List of things you should me tracking :
Books
Everything have became digital now, an average person spends more time on his phone then he sleeps.
A quick glance on your phone activities can show what type of person you are . You can easily track your screentime by going to your phone settings. Check which apps you spend more time the websites you are on. Is it work related ? Is it productive? How can it help you to acheive your goals? Or is it just pointless scrolling?
Remember to be easy on yourself. Learn to forgive yourself and allow yourself to make mistakes.
● Your finances
In this world of over consumerism, we should not let it consume ourselves. How many impulse buys have you done this year? How much did you spend in total? How much of it was wants and needs? Did you make any major investment this year? How much is in savings? How much dept you have? Can you survive if anything major happens ?
●Track you diet
Health is wealth
Your health should always be the priority.Track your eating habits,how many times have you eaten outside if you paid online or order online there should be records
● Track your sleep cycle
How many hours do you usually sleep ? When do you wake up naturally are you a night owl or a day person .
Step 2
Set Goals 2 levels higher than your current level
Now that we know ourselves and our unhealthy habits this is the main part where we set our goals.A common mistake an amateur makes is to set goals too high.We all have been there, we set our goals too high and get unmotivated after few weeks. The trick is to set goals 2 levels higher than your current level. For example If you study for two hours a day try studying for 4 hrs if you wake up at 12pm each morning try waking up at 10am instead of 5am .Think of it as a game , you are a Characture unlocking new levels. And when you mastered this two levels try to go 2 levels further.
Don’t wait for January to arrive start doing it now
Trick:Have realistic goals; set goals that you can achieve in 1 to 2 months. This will help you boost your confidence and motivate you to keep going.
Step 3
Stick to it
Now that we have set our goal we are ready for the last step. This is step is the most difficult and challenging step.. Anyone can make a daily schedule and set high goals but only The brave and the consistent of them all can achieve their goals. Lock in and set a work flow.
Here is how?
● Eliminate the stimulants
Our everyday life is filled with overstimulation. Caffeine, social media, whatever addiction you have leave it this year.The secret is to be bored and connect with nature.Remember the times when we were younger and our attention spend was much longer. Ah!the good old times.Nowadays I began to even find TVs boring , I dont have the patience to watch a 10min ad , to watch my favorite show anymore.
So yeah! just let yourself be bored.Lower your daily dose of dopamine and let your work be your new dopamine. The dopamine you get from praises of your boss ,friends or family Is more valuable and satisfactory then your daily dose of guilt.
● Write a dopamine journal
Write the highlights of the day in what I call a dopamine journal, the good thing about this journal is that you dont have to write each and everthing that happened in the day just the highlights , you dont even have to write it everyday suitable for my dear procrastinators the sole purpose of this is to give you smile when you look back at it and see what you achieve this week, this month and then boom this year .