Author: Dr. Alexandria Salerno

The beginning of a new year can be filled with excitement and eagerness to begin a new routine of healthy habits and meaningful goals. While the development of a plan can be motivational, often times the follow-through can feel overwhelming or discouraging as the year unfolds. This is why it can be especially beneficial to be mindful and patient when creating fresh goals before diving in straightaway. The hope is that habits will become consistent and easy, which will translate into reaching goals, building confidence, and feeling accomplished.

When considering the habits you’d like to keep, change, or do away with as you venture into your aspirations, be sure to give yourself a moment to reflect and ease into the process as you work towards making positive changes in your life.

Here are five steps to consider in your process:

Take time to reflect.

Before diving head first into a long checklist of goals to mark-off in this new year, be sure to give yourself a moment to reflect on the past year. Take time to think about the goals you previously created and what tools and approaches you used to implement your plan. You may want to consider questions about whether you feel your goals were met, if healthy habits were maintained in the process, what was easy or difficult, and how you might want to keep, modify, or remove certain elements of the plan moving forward.

Reflecting can look different for everyone. Perhaps you enjoy journaling, writing at your computer, or not writing at all. You can also find printed or online-based booklets that offer prompts and questions about your goals and aspirations. Whichever way you choose, the most important aspect of this step is to truly allow yourself time to sit and reflect about what changes you are hoping to make and what will be most helpful in establishing those changes and achieving your goals.

Start small and be specific.

Once you’ve had time to reflect, you may feel ready to begin creating a plan towards achieving your new and current goals. Attainable goals tend to be small and specific, which sets a base to build off as you move forward with your plan. Alongside your goals are healthy habits and a well-established routine that follow a similar format. Depending on what your goal might be, you’ll want to determine what type of habits will be beneficial in supporting you.

A helpful approach may be to break down your goals into smaller increments and develop habits that coincide with your goals. For example, if you have developed a goal of drinking more water in this new year (as part of an overarching plan for a healthier lifestyle), you may consider a habit that accompanies this such as drinking a specific amount of water by the end of each day.

Set a steady pace and be consistent.

Healthy habits provide a foundation to your goals and are meant to make the process easier and incremental. The most important elements to maintaining your habits and routine include a steady pace and consistency. Different ways to create steadiness and consistency may include setting an alarm at specific times of day as a prompt to drink water, check-in with your mood, or whatever might be part of your plan.

When the pace is manageable and the practices are stable, momentum can be established. Of course, life happens, and it may be difficult to maintain consistency for some time. Be sure to be easy on yourself and step back in when the dust has settled and you are ready to begin again. Remember- working towards your aspirations is a marathon, not a sprint. Be sure to maintain a steady pace while being consistent in the process and most importantly, rest when necessary.

Stay connected to supportive relationships.

Your goals may be individual or collective. Regardless, you will want to be sure to lean into the support of those surrounding you. Habits, routines, goals, and plans can feel daunting and exhausting at times and the people in your life who are most supportive will be an essential piece on your aspirational journey. Take time to call someone you trust, make dinner plans with a supportive friend or family member, or find groups or organizations that include others who are working towards similar goals (i.e. group fitness classes, creative spaces, etc). Even if you may be feeling disconnected, try your best to reach out to someone who believes in you.

Support can also include therapeutic services. If you are feeling especially overwhelmed and have a desire for additional support that friends and family are not equipped to provide, find a therapist or group therapy space that can provide you with a safe place to work through the challenges you’re facing.

Rest, be kind to yourself, and celebrate!

The true essentials of seeing yourself through a new year of aspirations and routines is to make space for yourself to rest when it feels like too much, being kind to yourself in the process, and celebrating victories of any size. Exciting as it may be to jump into freshly created goals, the journey may be difficult. Find experiences that recharge you and be sure to praise yourself for your hard work. When challenges come up, reflect on what you’re needing to continue moving forward and then give yourself a pat on the back because you are doing it!

Congratulations for living out another year and stepping into a new one. Whether you have past goals you’re continuing to work through, new goals you’re trying on, or taking a break from goals this time around, be sure to take time to reflect, start small, hold steady, stay connected, rest, and be kind to yourself. They never said it was easy, but here you are doing it anyway.

Happy New Year and well wishes on your journey towards meaningful change.