The Importance of Setting Goals and... my 2013 resolutions!

New Year's resolutions are known far and wide as "goals for the first week of January" which then get thrown out the window.

Setting goals for yourself is a very important part of productive and satisfying living, yet countless people set goals for themselves that they never actually acheive, or they give up after a very brief time.

Why is that? First and most important reason: You set your goals too high, too hard, or too little gratification.

Humans as a whole love instant gratification. Being able to feel at least a piece of success NOW is essential to our wanting to continue working towards that goal. By setting a goal that has no short-term or instant gratification, you are setting yourself up to give up on yourself.

How do we avoid that?

Set smaller goals. Be realistic.

If your goal is to get healthy, quantify that. Do you want to (eventually) lose 5, 10, 15 pounds? Or is it that you want to fit into a size 8, 10, 14? Or maybe even be able to do 50 sit ups, pushups, squats, etc in a row?

Set a big goal, such as: By December 31, 2013, I want to lose 20 pounds and/or fit into a size 10, and/or be able to do 100 pushups in a row.

Then, set smaller, monthly goals. Such as: I want to lose 3 pounds in January.

Then think about what you have to do to acheive the smaller goal. If monthly goals are still too big for you, or you want something a little closer, think instead of time-based goals.

Example: I want to exercise for one hour each week (great starting point for the inactive person).

Then, each day that you do even five minutes of exercise, track it. By the end of the week, you add it all up. Each week you set a new goal. Maybe it'll be the same goal repeated, maybe you'll up the ante a bit. But don't overreach yourself.

You are worth the effort it takes to acheive your goals.

With all of that out of the way, here are my goals for 2013:

1. Fit back into a size 8 and be healthy about it.
          a. Work out at least two hours each week
          b. Stop eating so much junk food. Eat fruits and vegetables instead.
2. Pay off the car loan.
          a. Find my cheques
          b. Stay within budget
          c. Track spending and budget
3. Write more
          a. Edit my NaNoWriMo2012 novel to readability and have people read it.
          b. Continue working on the first draft of my other novel
          c. Add new content to this blog and to my Helium.com profile every week.
4. Finish 3 of my university courses
          a. one at a time, starting with Introductory Composition


That's all for now, folks! If you have any tips or tricks to making and sticking with goals, share them below! Also, if you have made any resolutions this year, share them and join the conversation.

Be honest with yourself, and believe in yourself.

Peace, love, and everlasting happiness.