By Olivia Haveron
Image from PSCI
2020 has been a year of unknowns: as the Coronavirus pandemic continued to wreak havoc on the world. As we ring in the New Year, obviously not much has actually changed. The concept of New Year when you think about it is arbitrary and conceptual, a day we use to celebrate moving forward. And what better way to start a new year than to achieve new goals and motivations.
The pure concept of a new year provides a renewed sense of motivation. Every year we decide to achieve our goals yet give up in mere weeks. However, there are many ways to begin and continue your goals instead of giving up on them similar to past years.
To begin, 2020 was such a crappy year, giving us little hope or motivation to do anything; the fear of what could possibly come next has stopped us from doing basic tasks. To start off 2021, how about we take all that we have learned from this past year and use it as a push to make this year even better. We need to take the bad from our past and transition them into some sort of good, which seems rare recently. It might seem difficult to see the good in the bad, but at the same time, it makes achieving your goals so much easier. Take what you wanted to do in 2020 and do it this year.
But to actually achieve your goals, especially those that are leftover from the past, you must remember to conquer your goals in steps. According to wellness coach and writer Elizabeth Scott, tackling goals in steps, beginning with small changes that lead up to bigger ones, you become accustomed to the changes. She states “While the effort to adopt resolutions show a wonderful sense of positive intent, a better alternative is to develop new goals for the future...it helps to work toward them as a more gradual process rather than expecting to change immediately.”
In doing so, create a detailed plan that includes how you want to accomplish your challenges. For many of our goals, the pandemic has put a damper on them, but it should be a challenge that we are willing to find ways around. Psychosocial rehabilitation specialist Kendra Cherry states how most people give up at the sight of an obstacle, setback, or resistance, but by writing your goals and noting obstacles you can keep yourself more accountable.
But what do you strive to achieve this year? Before you write out your goals think of some of these basic questions. First, What have you accomplished this year? Think big and small about what you did: you might not think so, but you achieved way more than you thought this year. What makes you passionate? Instead of basic goals that everyone comes up with, what makes you come alive? Think of one or two bigger goals to focus on and go from there. Other questions include What would your perfect day look like? What helps you find resilience? Simply letting go of 2020 is resilience. By asking where you found resilience, you’ ll be able to get through the hardest of days.
If you strive to be creative in keeping track of your goals, try a new method and create a vision, or dream, board. These boards are physical or digital creations that showcase your goals through images and objects that portray the future you seek, a sort of “if you see it, it will come” mindset. The creative aspect of it makes your goals not only achievable, but also fun to complete. And there is no right way to make these boards, allowing you to explore your creativeness to the fullest.
Every year, we set new goals for the new year that disappear within the first week. After the year that was 2020, we should strive more than ever to achieve these goals and motivators to make sure that 2021 is better than 2020. Even though 2021 might not immediately be better, the concept of 2020 ending gives a new sort of mindset for a better day to come, a mindset that we are ready to take on the world and nothing can stop up.