How can I stick to my goals? January was a long, long time ago, wasn’t it? You may have entirely forgotten your resolutions, your plans, your goals, your dreams–whatever you decided to call them. Or you may be diligently plugging along with the actions you set in place seven months ago. Of course, you may be somewhere in between–aware of what you want to do but slipping and sliding along, sometimes hitting the mark and maybe even missing it completely at other times.
No matter where you are, it’s a good time to take a mid-year assessment to see how far you’ve come and where you want to go.
If your plans fell by the wayside sometime in February, that’s ok. It doesn’t mean you’ve failed. You are actually in good company. Maybe your plans were too broad or you tried to do too much too fast. Maybe you have learned that you really need an accountability partner or a mentor. We often think if we stop, we have to wait for some special occasion to start again (like New Year’s Day), but every day is a new opportunity. Really, every hour and every minute offer new opportunities that we can seize.
If you’re diligently checking off goals, you can stop to reassess whether you’re moving forward with the same goal or whether things have changed–or should change. Are you happy? Is your consistency because you still want that same goal or is it because you’re just good at checking things off? If you have an easy time self-motivating, it is sometimes crucial to ask yourself, “Do I even want this anymore?”
If you are somewhere in between, think about what changes might occur to help make consistency more attainable. Have you scheduled time each week to work toward your goal? In the times when things slow down and you feel a slackening in your resolve, what is going on in your life? Can you make changes or ask for help from others to help pick up the pace for your goals?
No matter where you are, it is always a good idea to reflect on what is working and what isn’t. A mid-year self-assessment will help you ensure sustained movement in the right direction or the need for a pivot to a better course. Keep talking about your dreams. They are much more likely to happen when you are saying the words out loud.