Hello Love, 

 

Happy New Year! I feel like all we did last year was talk about the year itself. Please, let's leave that energy in the past. This year, I'm hoping to spend more time having discussions about the things that make me happy, inspire me, and fill me with hope. This time of the year can feel so rejuvenating. We're leaving the hustle of the holiday and the past behind while making way for a new beginning. I love this time. However, the energy of January is difficult to sustain as the year progresses. It is nonetheless possible to keep that motivation most of us are feeling right now throughout the year. Like you, I don't know what we're in for in 2021. This time last year, I was setting my goals and making plans like you probably were doing for how I wanted to live 2020. We all know how that year transpired. It was a difficult year, even if you had your health and job. Millions lost a lot, globally. The energy was just different in 2020. I don't know how 2021 will transpire, but I do know that I want to live as best as I can come what may. So in this post, I'm sharing five ways I've learned to be consistent and accomplish my goals in the most dynamic of years.  

 



Create a Check-In System 

This is the most important thing you can do to set yourself up for a good year. Naturally we all have some goals. Yes, everyone has a goal. Many of the things we want to achieve this year won't happen out of sheer will. We have to execute plans and make adjustments along the way. The best way to do that is through a check-in system. I personally check-in with my progress every day, but I recommend doing so at least weekly. This could take a few seconds to a couple hours. If you don't have any systems in place I suggest creating a timer on your phone and labeling it, "How'd we do this week?". This is a great way to start and a great way to track your successes. If you do nothing else, do this. This timer will trigger you to evaluate the goals you've set.  Overtime I've found this lead to other creative ways to check-in.  




 

Keep Trying After You've Failed 

Failure is inevitable. It is going to happen. Failure does not mean that you should stop. Pause, probably...actually, definitely. Take a breath when you've fallen down from your efforts and evaluate what happened. This evaluation can be seconds or maybe months! But whatever you do, don't stop or quit. Failure is a creative mechanism that helps us to improve what we're doing. Use it to bolster your creativity and to direct you on how you can do something better.  

 

Set easy and challenging goals 

Last year I had 13 goals and I accomplish just over half of them. That was pretty great for me. My goals ranged from getting glasses and my passport to publishing a book and developing an app. The first two I could check off in a day; but one the reasons they became goals in 2020 is because I had them on my to-do list all of 2019 and just never got around to them. So goals need not be over-arching targets like the last two, which I made progress on, but did not complete. Having a mix can be very energizing as it's easy to achieve the easier ones and use that motivation for the challenging ones.  

 

Be in it for the experience more than the achievement  

I had no ambition of accomplishing everything I set to achieve in 2020, I only wanted to give it an honest try. And I did just that. I've learned that the journey is often more rewarding that the destination. As I mentioned, one of my goals last year was to publish a book and create an app. Did I do those? No. But I learned so much about the process and will certainly one day complete those goals. I'm still working towards them and have failed at many attempts. Along the way, I've become more creative about my approaches and the direction I want to take those projects, simply because I tried. And of course, I'm much further than I was 12 months ago. 

 

Start NOW 

One thing I had going for me last year was that I was on a roll by the time COVID shutdown the country. I had already achieved several goals, traveled, and failed. All of that made it much easier to keep going and keep learning throughout the year. Along with the previously mentioned points, starting right away and doing my best with what I had was a gift. 2020 really showed us that tomorrow is not promised, the window of opportunity is fleeting, so do what you can do right now and give it your best effort. I believe life will give us another chance, but I want to shoot my shot now when I have the chance so that if I fail, I will have learned something for the next chance I get.  

 

Faithfully, 

 

Marie