New Years Resolutions can definitely feel cheesy or hard to maintain, but we have both been taking a look back at 2020, and looking forward to 2021 with an eye on what we want to accomplish. We love to set goals - short term, long term, for ourselves, for projects. While goal setting can happen anytime, there is something about the start of a new year (especially this year) that has us inspired. Our best practices and favorite resources vary with our different lives and circumstances, but here is how we set goals and what to do to achieve them (also, apologies for how text-heavy this is!). 

Key Practices:

1. Write them down

2. Break up big goals into smaller ones 

3. Share them with a friend (or sister!)

4. Don’t give up if your first attempt/system doesn’t work

5. Find ways to stay inspired on a daily basis

Write them down

Eloise: I’m such a person of habit that I tend to do things every day or almost never, so if I want something to become a regular part of my life, I need to put them on my daily planner with a check mark next to it by then end of the day. I have a paper planner that I put my entire life into (currently it’s the spiral bound Emily Ley Simplified Planner), and then I also have a big white board monthly calendar in my office that I’ll use to keep track of special goals that I really want to focus on. Sometimes I write them in code if I don’t want the kids to know exactly what I’m working on, like when I went through a goal of serving more vegetables at meals this fall. 

Dinah: Since I live by myself, I don’t have to worry about anyone else seeing my goals, so I tend to write them out and put them on a big corkboard that I keep by my desk. I like to write the big goal or topic, then underneath it, break it down into my smaller daily or weekly goals. Sometimes I include things that I am already doing to achieve those goals as a positive reminder that I am actively making progress! Seeing them everyday acts as a great reminder and keeps me motivated. Also, I prefer a corkboard to a white board so that I can’t erase it! My final step is making a weekly checklist - is it possible that we have a genetic love of crossing things off?

Break Up Big Goals Into Smaller Ones

Eloise: For larger ambitions, I tend to follow the philosophy of taking big dreams and breaking them down into daily goals (see pretty much any book by Gretchen Rubin-love her!).  Nothing makes me happier than crossing off an item on my to do list, so breaking down a big goal like eating more vegetables per week into a manageable daily to-do list item (like serve the kids two vegetables at lunch time), gives me the satisfaction of checking off a list and knowing that I’ve made a concrete baby step towards my bigger goal each day.  I try to quantify even the vaguest goals, like writing more, into quantifiable items (writing for 15 minutes every morning) so that I make sure that I actually do them on a regular basis.

Dinah: I’m just like Eloise in this regard, where I love breaking up goals into smaller daily or weekly items. While doing something like running a half marathon can be daunting, setting a weekly goal of running three times, picking a race to run or finding a training program, can help to break it up and make it seem more approachable. I also find that the pressure of doing things every single day can set me up for failure, so I like to designate an amount of time or number of times I need to do a task weekly. This gives me more flexibility if I have an especially busy work day or week. 

Share Them With A Friend (Or Sister!)

We both find it helpful to have someone else know about our goals and when we are really cranking on them, we text each other every day about whether we have done our daily goals. We also have phone calls to check in on our goals and get ideas if we are struggling to stick to our plans, and share resources that work for each of us.  

Don’t Give Up if Your First ATTEMPT/SYSTEM Doesn’t Work 

Dinah: I am the queen of falling off of the wagon and trying to get back on it. Sometimes it takes a few tries to figure out a sustainable system that actually works for me, but I’m always glad that I persevere! A yearly goal really appeals to me because it gives me an opportunity to have some ebbs and flows in my motivation levels but still achieve. It also works for me to have outside trackers watching my progress, like a running/fitness app when I’m trying to reach a running goal.

Eloise: When I was trying to get into the habit of exercising at home during quarantine, I had a really hard time getting into a good routine until I found Melissa Wood Health. The fact that she has a weekly schedule of videos means you don’t have to debate or overthink what to do, so I picked the four or five days that I would do them each week, put those in my planner and then got to put a satisfying check mark next to that box each day. For January, I also picked up a new to me book called The Lazy Genius by Kendra Adachi, which is about implementing systems to make doing the things that are important to you easier, and learning to let go of the things that you don’t care about. So far, I’ve been really enjoying it, but I generally love routines and building habits that make daily routines like doing laundry and getting the girls to practice piano easier!

Find Ways to Stay Inspired on a Daily Basis

Eloise: I love waking up before my kids and having a few minutes to read a non-fiction book in the morning when I’m drinking my coffee. It helps me feel inspired and focused first thing in the morning, especially when I’m in a goal setting state of mind. I started reading the Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday this fall, and I’m planning to keep up with that again this year. Each day there’s a short passage from a stoic philosopher with some thoughts on how to apply that to our modern life. If I’m feeling super inspired, I’ll also journal for a few minutes about the passage and how I can implement it in my own life to feel more centered and focused.  

Dinah: Listening to an inspiring podcast always helps me to stay motivated, especially when I am out on a big power walk, or cleaning my apartment. I love listening to the Feel Good Effect (which I’ve mentioned on here before) when I need some health and wellness support, or interviews with experts that I admire from Bad on Paper, Boob Sweat and Forever35. I also like to visualize when I’m falling asleep at night - I picture a very very specific scenario, what I am doing, who I am with, how I feel, what I am wearing, and it helps me to see the reality of that future and manifest it more actively in my life.