As another year is coming to its end, we couldn’t help but seeing the year to come as a chance for a new beginning, a blank slate on which we can write new stories, and hopefully, ones with happy endings. Sometimes, however, we are so desperate to start over, erase the past year, and reach some idealistic, out-of-our-reach goals, that we get frustrated and disappointed if we fail. We want to meet so many great, life-changing goals that we don’t stop to think what is really important. We only focus on the outcome that we believe will make us happy and fulfilled, but what is more important is the journey itself and what we learn about ourselves in the process.
Before setting goals, take a good look at what you’ve learned in the previous year
The most important thing we should all focus on is to work on ourselves, and to constantly ask ourselves how we can be better, happier people. Getting a bigger salary, buying a new car, or starting a romantic relationship may be good things, but may not make you as happy as you think. Before setting goals that you feel are necessary for making you a happier person, you need to look deep down and embrace what you have learned about yourself in the previous year, both positive and negative. You need to dig deep and see what you need to improve so as to achieve personal growth.
Before setting your goals, you need to rethink whether you are making them for the right reasons. If you are unhappy at work, getting a bigger salary is not going to make you feel better in a longer run. You need to reflect on why you feel miserable at your job, and what you can do to change that. Only when you take a good look at situations that made you feel bad, you will know what aspects of your life you should change and only then you can set the right goals.
Cherish all the experiences, good and bad, and celebrate how far you’ve come
When you reflect on how far you’ve come, you can see what you are capable of, and what your strengths and weaknesses are. Realizing that makes it possible for you to see where you can improve and thus make new goals that you feel confident you will achieve.
When stopping to think about the past year and all the experience you’ve had, it’s easy to focus on how you may have failed to meet the goals you planned. When you do that, however, you miss out on seeing the lessons these “failures” can teach. Failures make us learn something and realize what we can do to make our lives better. So, when you reflect on your journey, don’t run away from failures, rather look at them as something positive, as something that made you who you are now, something that made you stronger.
There were definitely situations thought the past year when you had to make a leap and step out of your comfort zone, so make sure to give yourself the credit you deserve. Reward yourself for being so brave to do things you wouldn’t dream of doing before since that’s a huge step forward in your life and should be celebrated.
For the year to come, don’t base your goals on the negative emotions you have now, base them on the positive feelings you want to have when you achieve them. Above all, set yourself up for success! Don’t set some big goal you want be able to achieve and then feel bad – set smaller goals that will eventually lead to a bigger life change. Once you check off your list one small goal at a time, you will gain a sense of completion. Crossing smaller items off the list promotes positive energy, and that in the end will help you to become a happier, better person.
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