I don’t know about you, but I have a really hard time accomplishing personal goals. I feel like I set them at the beginning of summer or over the school year with a lot of excitement that ends up sizzling out. My goals become burdens for me and make me anxious. But why is this?
Well, for me, sometimes I get caught up in trying to figure out how I’m going to reach the end of my goal. I overcomplicate the logistics and consider so many factors to the point where I tire myself out before I can even start working towards my goal. I’ve been told to set smaller goals to reach my larger goal, but I don’t find that helpful either. What I do find helpful is setting targets with specific dates; this is kind of like setting smaller goals, but it feels less vague to me. I make these dates flexible as well so I don’t stress myself out.
There are a ton of other reasons why accomplishing personal goals feels impossible. One reason I found is that sometimes we set our goals as negative statements, which can be very uninspiring—instead, try writing your goals in a more positive attitude. For example, rather than saying, “Stop eating junk food,” you can say, “Try eating healthier snacks.” We can also create a more invisible obstacle for ourselves by downplaying our wins or our accomplishments towards our goals; try celebrating your small successes to encourage yourself to keep on going along the path to your goal.
Setting and achieving goals is not an easy feat, and being positive throughout the process isn’t easy either. However, it is possible if you consider your dilemmas and really look into solutions for them.