This Year I Will… GOAL printable

A new year, a time for new beginnings… and those horrible little things called resolutions. Not to be the bearer of bad news, but did you know that approximately 80% of New Year’s Resolutions are broken by the second week of February? I feel like I should blow you a two finger Hunger Games kiss and whisper “may the odds be ever in your favor.”

Goal printable

It doesn’t take long for broken resolutions to become forgotten resolutions. They’re just another item on your list of things “I’d like to do…”

Don’t get me wrong… I absolutely am not giving you permission to quit on your resolutions. Well, not quite yet. I truly am a fan of challenging yourself to make a change for the better and resolutions can be a great way to do that. But the word resolution defined as “a firm decision to do or not to do something” seems a little hard, doesn’t it? Hard to carry out that is. Stopping something cold turkey is never easy. Just because it’s a new year does not mean that you are going to wake up January 1st and miraculously stop the bad habits you’ve created over the years.

Heck, I wake up January 1st still tired from the night before and need a few days to recuperate from the holidays before I can really think about the new year. And when I do think about it, I want to have a plan of action, a “how am I going to move forward” plan mapped out in front of me, not just a resolution telling me what I can’t do.

Call it the rebel in me, but I don’t like being told I can’t do something.

Even telling myself something like “Your goal is to lose weight so no more ice cream.” My brain goes straight into rebel mode. “Yah, right! Momma just stocked up on the Buy 10, Get 1 FREE sale knowing this would be my lost ice cream hoorah for a while.” And well, I just can’t let good ice cream go to waste. Which then means hubby and I will binge eat a pint of Double Fudge Rocky Road Ice Cream every night until the freezer is bare.

Or if in trying to eradicate the control freak side of myself, I tell myself, “No more trying to control other people’s behaviors” well, it somehow seems to turn out worse. Now I’m focusing on trying not to be controlling and I unintentionally focus on trying not to focus on the havoc the boys are wreaking on my nerves and as you can imagine, I go into drill sergeant mode giving them orders on what they can and cannot do.

And I wonder where my kids get their defiance!

But seriously, get where I’m going here? Being told not to do something and focusing on the negative is more detrimental than helpful towards making a true change.

So friends, this right here, right now is the part where I tell you to forget your New Year’s Resolutions. Forget that you’ve resolved to stop a behavior and INSTEAD put a plan into place on how you can adapt new behaviors and launch new routines.

It doesn’t matter if it’s New Year’s or the middle of September. To live your best life, to be the best you… work on living your best life. Work on becoming the best version of yourself. Do it now! Don’t wait another minute. Start over! Get a forward focusing plan into place!

In fact, that’s what I’m challenging you to do too. Actually I triple dog dare you to make a plan. And while you’re at it, have each person in your family make a plan.

To help you have the BEST YEAR and the BEST YOU, I’ve created a “This year I will” printable for you to use as a guide and goal sheet.

Goal printable

And while you’re at it, print out a “This Year I Will…” goal printable for everyone in your family and decide what you would like to do. What would you each like to change? What would you like to start doing?

This is not an uncommon thing for our family to do… discuss our bucket lists, brainstorm where we’d like to travel, discuss what changes we would like to see in our family as a whole, share what makes our family special, talk about how we can help others, etc.

However, what I love about the “This Year I Will…” printable is that it acts as a goal board. Statistics show that people who write down their goals have an 80% higher success rate of achieving them. (BTW… this is a great way to teach your children how to goal set.)

Hang it on your fridge or next to your desk. Put it in your Bible and pray for strength to forget what lies behind and press on toward these goals. The point is, make your “This Year I Will…” list visible. Reference it often.

Discuss it with your biggest supporters. Your spouse, your kids, your best girlfriend… these are all great people to help hold you accountable.

Write out a full plan. If you need a little more direction toward some of your goals, use the printable as a jumping off point and as a daily visual, but then work out a detailed plan on how to work out some of the kinks that would prohibit you from achieving your goal. For instance, if you want to tithe 10% to your church, you’ll want to re-work your budget to cover that 10% without making yourself go into debt in another spending area.

Sure, it might look like a resolution. Heck, it might even be written out like a resolution. But the difference is that you are focused on creating better habits in the future, not being told what to stop. That mindset makes the difference between failing and flourishing. And friends… I want you to flourish and live your very best life now!

Please leave a comment below to share with me what new habit you will be working towards! I’d love to encourage you along the way!

Cheers to an amazing new journey to being our best!

 

 

 

Goal printable image for Pinterest

 

Alisha

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