With the New Year and a new decade just around the corner, I’ve been thinking a lot about New Year’s resolutions lately.

I really love goal setting, and I love New Years and the burst of motivation that seems to spread through much of the world’s population around this time. We all reflect on the past year and look forward in anticipation and hope towards the new year. We all commit to live healthier, more economical, and loving lives.

As much as I love the time surround New Years though, I often find that the burst of motivation brought on by the turn of a new year tends to slowly diminish within the first few months of the year. It is difficult to keep motivation high throughout the ENTIRE year!

Although some of this difficulty is inevitable – because change is hard -I believe there is a way to set goals that will increase the likelihood of your motivation sticking with you through the entire year!

I’ve gathered a list of 4 quick tips to help you set goals for 2020 – or simply in general – that will actually stick!

1. Know your why! Take some time after focusing in on some goals to really evaluate your “why.” Your why will be your purpose. When something has a purpose behind it, it has power! Without this power when things get hard you will be much more likely to give up rather than push forward through the difficulties. I recently read that the “why” behind a movement or a goal is comparable to the way a magnifying glass can focus light through it. Without the magnifying glass the light is soft and diffused. It is weaker. With a magnifying glass the light can be focused and its energy concentrated to such an extent that it can start fires! Find your WHY and let that purpose fuel the power of your motivation!

2. Set measurable goals! Set goals that are tangible and measurable. For example, instead of setting the goal to “be healthier,” break that goal into measurable quantities. This could look like; go to the gym 2 times a week, incorporate vegetables into my meals at least once a day, etc. If your goal is to spend less money, set smaller measurable goals by creating a budget and planning out exactly how much you want to spend (and don’t want to spend) each week, month, year.

Setting measurable goals is so so important to keeping up motivation. Instead of an intangible and uncertain determination to “be better” we focus our energy on something tangible, certain and reachable.

When we set measurable goals we also allow ourselves to “check off” our success and to rejoice in our small victories boosting motivation and urging us to continue on.

3. Plan out smaller attainable steps to move you towards your goal and don’t set goals expecting to go from 1 to 100 in one step. Although it is important to have the end in mind even from the beginning, we cannot expect ourselves to change our habits and routines from one day to the next. Change takes time. Setting goals that are too lofty is demotivating whereas setting smaller attainable goals can help fuel motivation along the path towards our larger goals. If I set the goal to be able to run a half marathon by the end of 2020, I need to set smaller goals to lead me there; for example, run a 5k in February, a 10k in April, etc.

Similarly to setting measurable goals, setting smaller attainable goals allows us to rejoice in our small victories boosting our motivaaiton to keep going!

And remember, just because the whole world seems to be joining in setting resolutions at New Years, doesn’t mean you can’t re-evaluate your goals THROUGHOUT the year.

4. Write down your goals! This is all about taking something abstract and fluid and making it concrete and tangible. When we make something tangible we increase our ability to manifest it into our lives. Writing something down, or creating a vision board, or displaying a picture that reminds you of your goals, choosing a “word of the year” (whatever works for you, as long as it is taking the abstract and making it concrete- get them out of your head and into the world) will also help solidify your goals and keep them at the front of your mind instead of allowing them to fade into the background over time!

A goal that is not written down remains a dream. So go ahead and get started: write those dreams down, turn them into goals, and get to work!

So there you have it! A few quick tips on how to set goals for 2020 that will actually stick!

1. Know your WHY

2. Set measurable goals within your sphere of influence

3. Set smaller attainable goals

4. Write down your goals (solidify them and make them tangible)

I hope this post was helpful, and I would LOVE to hear any of the tips and tricks that have helped you set goals and follow through on these goals! Let me know in the comments below!

Happy goal setting!