Your 2022 goal-setting guide

A new year always feels like a fresh start and it’s a great opportunity to take stock of where you are at and review your life goals for the next six or 12 months. Refreshed from a summer break, we sat down to think about how we were going to go about this for 2022 and thought we would share our ideas with you. In this first part we look at the basics of setting goals.

How to set goals and achieve them

• Set goals, not resolutions. Goals tend to be more specific and action-orientated than resolutions which makes it easier to make a plan to achieve them.
• Make sure your goals are specific and measurable – rather than setting a goal to “exercise more”, commit to exercising for 40 minutes, four times a week.
• Look at all the different areas of your life including wellbeing, home and family and work and finances. Consider picking one or two goals from each category. It’s probably unrealistic to try to focus on more than five goals at one time and you might want to start with just two or three.
• Make your goals achievable - start with small goals and break them down into steps if necessary. Each success can lead to additional steps and additional successes.
• Ensure your goals resonate with you – don’t get caught up in what your family, friends or colleagues think should be your priorities.
• Write down your goals or take a photo of your list and make it your phone screen saver to act as a reminder.
• Identify pitfalls or roadblocks so you are aware of what might derail your intentions and have a plan to deal with them.
• Set deadlines for each step of your goal and mark them in your diary or calendar. This will help keep you on track.
• Embrace your accomplishments rather than dwelling on failure – everyone has days or weeks where unforeseen events mean even the best-laid plans go out the window. Instead of feeling guilty about having takeaways a couple of times, remind yourself that cooked healthy dinners for the other five nights of the week.
• Reward yourself when you achieve a goal or complete one of the steps on the way. It doesn’t have to be a big reward – perhaps a new exercise t-shirt when you have completed your first 20 workouts or a Netflix binge when that CV is updated.
• Be flexible – if we have learned anything in the past two years, it’s that life can change quickly. Review your goals at least every six months – if your circumstances or priorities have changed, your goals may need a tweak.