Everyone loves Jan 1st! It’s the preview of exciting things. You get to write your story afresh. So many endless possibilities. If you play your cards right you could become the president by the end of the year! Or you could quadruple your net worth! Better yet, if you are in college you could change your cGPA from 2.5 to a 4.0! Or you could publish 10 papers at the end of the year if you are a graduate student! Notice the theme in the goals we just mentioned? They are all overly ambitious! Ambition is a good thing, don’t get us wrong. Being overly ambitious on the other hand, is a recipe for disaster. So as we all spring into this new year, we want to offer you tips on how to actually embrace the New Year and set realistic goals.
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Two types of goal setters
There are generally 2 types of people when it comes to goals setting. The first kind of people set their sights too narrow i.e. they dream little dreams. They tend to set goals that are not designed to stretch them. They set small goals — goals they know they can achieve. After all, why do too much? The second bucket of people are those who, are on the other end of the extreme and set really extraordinary goals. These folks tend to set goals they really have no idea how they are going to accomplish.
Why live your life on both extremes when you can be a hybrid of the 2 kinds. Yes, you read that right, we’re advocating for you to become an amalgam (aka crossover) of both these people. This year, become the kind of person that sets goals that will stretch you, not too thin that you can’t achieve them, but just long enough that you have to go out of your comfort zone to achieve them.
Okay, but how do you actually become such a person? Let’s illustrate with Sam.
Meet Sam, the ambitious goal setter.
Sam is a young professional who teaches Math to high school students. He is hoping to deliver more on the job this year. Here’s the thing. One of the things Sam struggled a lot with last year was time management. He found himself struggling to have his weekly lesson plans ready in time for his students before the week began. This meant that Sam was scrambling once the beginning of the week rolled around.
So Sam decides this year he is not taking prisoners. Dec 30th, Sam lays up all this groundwork for how he is going to start making weekly plans at least a month in advance. By the time the semester begins Jan 15th, Sam would already have his weekly class plans all the way through Feb 15th. On paper, this is a really solid idea. Here is one key thing Sam has not taken into account.
Sam works best under pressure. There are people like this out there in the world. They tend to live life on the edge, and as a result function best under pressure. So while it sounds like a wonderful idea for him to plan ahead. Maybe a month in advance is entirely too far for him to actually feel the pressure of the deadline.
Sam, the realistic goal setter.
What might help Sam actually deliver on the monthly timeline is if he has an accountability buddy. For instance, he could get another teacher that he trusts to also commit to this monthly prep planning. And then maybe they set a deadline where before the month begins, they review each other’s lesson plans and provide feedback. This allows Sam to have an extra deadline within the month that can actually serve as the catalyst for him to meet his goal of having the monthly lesson plans for his students.
Less stressed/scrambling Sam = Better learning experience for the students. Mission accomplished.
Key takeaways for successful goal setting
Goals setting tip #1: To thyself be TRUE
This is probably the golden rule. While it is a New Year, in reality it is the same old you. Fundamentally, human beings don’t change. Well, human beings don’t have radical changes. We are the sum of small incremental changes. So you have to be honest. If you are the kind of person who wakes up at 6:30 am just in time to make it out the door and be at your desk at 7:15 am. Why set a goal to wake up at 5:00 am? What is the motivation? Will you even be happy waking up that early? First understand the intrinsic motivation behind that desire, and then design the plan from there. Maybe you make it a goal to wake up 30 mins earlier at 6:00 am – with the tradeoff being that you go to bed at least 30 mins earlier. You see, small incremental changes.
Goals setting tip #2: To thyself be KIND
As humans we need to understand that change takes time. Even when they are small and incremental and meant to stretch us. We often live life without giving ourselves enough grace. And so we never have room for failure. We argue that it is important to leave room for failure in your goal planning for the year. What happens when it’s February 1st and you realize you only went to the gym for the first 10 days in January? Do you recalibrate and come up with a different gym time? Or a different exercise time? Or do you just give up because I mean it was a stretch anyway. Be the kind of person who does the former. Because you already decided to be kind to yourself, you already anticipated not being perfect and can make the necessary adjustments to adjust the goal.
Goals setting tip #3: To thyself be FIRM
There’s a thin line between being the kind of person who anticipates their shortcomings and being the kind of person who doesn’t hold themselves to high standards. As long as you’ve set your goals with all the steps we’ve mentioned in this article, the last part is for you to hold yourself accountable. You are worthy of getting to the next phase of your life. So make sure to always revisit the intrinsic motivations behind each goal and remind yourself constantly that they are worth pursuing.
Let’s set great goals together.
Now it’s your turn! We would love to hear about your goals for the year. Comment below and tell us about them.
Here is one of ours here at Savvy Afro Success — To write at least 4 articles that directly address our readership’s interest. Ideally, once a quarter, we want to publish an article that directly answers one of y’alls questions and concerns. In order to do this, every month we’re going to send out a call for questions! Who is going to hold us accountable, you the reader! If we get to the end of April and you don’t see any article that states it is directly answering a listener’s question, holla at us! Call us out. Remind us that we’re slacking. We promise to do the same for you if you invite us into your goal setting process!
Cheers to an amazing 2023! We can’t wait to see all the amazing things y’all will accomplish!