Realistic Goals
It’s a brand new year. You know what that means! It means it's time to set new resolutions and goals. I, like almost everyone else, am terrible at achieving my resolutions or goals. I gave up on resolutions long ago as I don’t think they leave much room for the flexibility real life requires. Resolutions tend to be stopping a bad habit or starting a good habit, and both are equally unattainable if there is no room for error. For example, “No more caffeine in the new year,” or, “I’m going to go to the gym five times per week this year,” don’t leave room for the inevitable fuck-ups. Instead, I prefer to set goals because they do have that flexibility. Goals are something to work towards such as, “I want to get eight hours of sleep each night on average,” or, “I want to be able to run for 30 minutes without stopping.” Those two examples are two of my goals for 2024.
As I started to think about the goals I wanted to set for 2024, I realized that I needed to make sure the goals I chose were realistic. Too often, I aim too high, miss the goal, and then feel disappointed and demotivated by the perceived failure. Despite knowing, albeit retroactively, that I chose an unrealistic goal, the effect remains the same. It just so happened that while I was pondering the question of realistic goals, one of my favorite authors posted a YouTube video titled What Everyone Gets Wrong About Goals. It couldn’t have been more perfect.
Mark Manson is the author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck and Everything Is F*cked A Book About Hope, two of my favorite books. He also, luckily for me, makes YouTube advice videos that I have found insightful and helpful (if you want to watch the one I am talking about in this post, click here for the link). In the video What Everyone Gets Wrong About Goals, he and his producer Drew discuss the top six mistakes people make when setting goals. Those top six mistakes are aiming too high, doing everything at once, neglecting systems, not making it fun, making it too easy, and doing it for others. I highly recommend watching the video if you are interested, as they break these down to explain why they are mistakes and give examples from their own lives.
For me, I relate to every mistake on that list. I’m using their list of top mistakes as my goal-setting playbook this year. If you are feeling stumped coming up with your goals, or are just curious, here are the goals I’ve come up with. Let’s see if I can be more successful this year!
Measurable Goals
Get eight hours of sleep each night on average.
Be able to run for 30 minutes without stopping.
Save $5,000.
Abstract Goals
Prioritize my health over productivity and perceived success.
Slow down. Smell the roses.
Happy New Year!