Goal Setting for the New Year (Realistically)

Happy New Year! It’s that time of year again, where everyone is talking about goals and resolutions and how this is their year. This also happens to be one of my favorite topics to write about. A few of my coworkers and I were discussing New Year’s resolutions a few days before New Year’s Eve. One said she doesn’t do them because she ultimately ends up feeling disappointed when she sets her goals too high and doesn’t meet them. I think this is true for a lot of people (myself included). That being said, I do like setting goals for myself so that I have an idea of where I want to be at the end of the year / what I want to have achieved.

As disappointing as it is to set goals and not meet them, it feels equally as good, maybe more, when you DO reach them. That’s why I think it’s so important to set realistic goals for yourself. There’s a couple different ways I do this.

The first thing I do is weed out the unrealistic goals and then figure out what’s at the heart of it. For example, I told myself I was going to try to write every single day this year. I have a full-time job and am in law school, so this is not very likely, especially when I’m not in the habit of doing it, or even doing anything close to that. The goal, what I actually want, is to write MORE this year. I want to make it more of a regular habit and build it into my routine. If I tell myself I want to write every day, I think I’ll end up disappointed when I ultimately don’t do that, and I’ll end up not writing at all because I’ll already feel that I fell so far behind it’s not worth it. To avoid this spiral of thoughts, I decided on something that is more attainable with my busy schedule. I want to try to write once a week, whether that means jotting down some thoughts before bed or writing a blog post or starting a new project, I just want to get something down on a page once a week. This is something I can realistically do without drastically changing what I already do. It’s small enough that it will fit into my schedule, while still being big enough that it feels like I’m working towards something.

Another big piece of realistic goal setting is the timing aspect of it. Setting goals for a whole year can be overwhelming, and it’s easy to get carried away when you feel like you have all the time in the world. I’ve found it’s easier to do things for shorter amounts of time and THEN expanding it. For example, something else I’m working on is being better at saving money. I moved to a more expensive apartment in December and started a new job with a bit of a pay cut. Deciding to save more in 2025 isn’t a very concrete or helpful goal. BUT deciding to save a certain amount of money from each paycheck in January is more attainable because it’s something I can keep track of. THEN, in February, I can up that amount, or I can look at how I spent my money in January and make a plan based off of that.

Another goal I set for myself that I’ve been doing pretty well with is being more conscious about my health. I’m a very busy (and very tired) person, so I tend to consume an unnatural amount of caffeine. At a certain point though, being alert for an extra hour or two isn’t worth the damage I’m doing to my body by drinking a Celsius and multiple coffees every day. Because I know myself, and I’m someone who tends to be an all or nothing person in many respects, I decided to cut out energy drinks entirely. I make myself a coffee in the morning (I received a coffee grinder for Christmas, which was great for my saving money goal!), and don’t get me wrong, it’s a BIG coffee, but that’s my caffeine for the day. If I need a pick-me-up before my night classes, I try to go with green tea, or a small coffee. I’m still probably having more caffeine / sugar / whatever else is in that shit than I should, BUT it’s a start. I haven’t been drinking energy drinks for almost a month now, and compared to December Miriam, that’s a big change.

This is what I mean about realistic goal setting. It doesn’t have to be something huge or something that will necessarily make sense to other people. I hope the new year is going well for everyone and would love to hear any thoughts people have on New Year’s resolutions!