I don’t make New Year’s resolutions. At least, I never call them that. As a busy mom of three, sometimes things I wanted to get done for myself fall by the wayside. The idea that I might fail at the end of the year fills me with more stress than a silly mental promise should. But I do try to accomplish things, and to do that, I try to be organized. (I often fail. But I try.) Every year I look for a different method of reaching goals, hoping that one of them will be the one I stick to. This year I’m going back to number one in the hopes that the third time is the charm.
Here are five alternative methods to a New Year’s Resolution.
1. Month-by-Month To-Do List. I reserve this one for when I’m feeling super organized. I can’t take credit for it—a friend of mine who is an organizing genius turned me on to this method a couple of years ago. The idea is to list your goals for the year and plug them into each month. For instance, you know you’re going to file your taxes in February, so place that goal into that month. You know you need 4 oil changes, so plug those in three months apart. (Seriously, though, change your oil.) As you complete each goal of the month, check it off! If you have incomplete goals at the end of the month, move them to the following month. Pros: It’s organized and allows for planning way ahead. Also, it keeps you on track for as long as you follow it. It was shown to me by the most incredibly organized person I know, so I know it’s efficient. Cons: I lose the damn thing half-way through month three. Every time. Even when it’s digital.
2. The Bucket List. This style is pretty successful for families who have goals to achieve together. You can visually make a goal post, list all of your bucket list activities in a fancy line, one under the other, and fill in a little of your goal post as you complete each endeavor until you reach the top. Once you do reach the top, you’ve completed your goals for the year! Pros: It’s visual, so it keeps items on your list in your mind all year. It’s fun, and a reminder that yearly goals don’t have to be chores. Cons: If you’re not completing goals, it could be a just like posting a New Year’s resolution, a reminder that you haven’t done anything you wanted to this year. It’s also generally broader than your standard list, which means your smaller goals can fall by the wayside.
3. Rolling Incentives. Sometimes I like to make a list of twelve goals, and only pick one goal for each month. If I complete it, I get to pick one of a bunch of incentives out of a jar. The incentive might be to get my nails done, or it might be to take a walk by the lake. Pros: This virtually guarantees you’ll have one self-care activity per month, and those are something I often fail to schedule into my day. It’s fun and rewarding. Cons: This is kind of a wishy-washy goal-setter for me. I loved the incentives, but the goals were a little too easy. I suggest this one for someone who has never set goals for the year before as a simple start to a lifetime of setting new and bigger goals each year.
4. Social Media Accountability Method. Some years, if I have one over-arching goal, like the year I took up running, I post on social media platforms to keep me accountable for following through. I started a Couch to 5K program a couple of years ago, and posted how far I’d run, what week and session I finished, and how I fared compared to the last run. Pros: You get into a habit of telling people how far you’ve come, and it kind of keeps you accountable for maintaining a schedule. Cons: If your FB friends are way too nice, like mine, they’re not keeping you accountable for anything.
5. Step by Step. This one is similar to three and four in that it has one or two larger goals, but it breaks them down into actionable steps. For instance, if my goal was to publish a book, my first step would be to outline the book. The second step would be to write it. The third step would be to edit, send to beta readers/CPs, and so on. I would plug those into my handy-dandy calendar at intervals and try to keep to a schedule. Pros: I like this method because it tells you how to accomplish the goals you’ve set by giving you smaller goal posts to reach. Cons: Again, these are larger goals for the year, so it’s not going to help you remember to, say, change the oil. But if it works for you, plug the oil changes into your phone calendar and call it a day.
Whatever method you choose, it doesn’t have to be stressful. These are goals tailored to what you want to do. Pro tip: The beauty of a digital organizer is that you can delete and change goals whenever you want.
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This story has been republished to Medium.
Photo credit: iStock