Activity #5: Committing to Your Goals
I knew what I was going to write about this week as soon as I saw it on the list: goal-setting.
Now, I hate goals. HATE them.
APRIL FOOLS!
I love goal-setting. I love it love it love it.
Goal-sticking-to-it though? Uh…yea. That's a lot harder.
January of this year I bought a notebook designed for goal-setting. I actually researched (another thing I love) the best strategies for goal-setting, and as you might know, it’s best to set large goals over a few months and then break them down.
Have you heard of bullet journaling? That inspired me to make this notebook BEAUTIFUL. Let me know if I succeeded.
Okay, but before I get ahead of myself, let’s explain why goal-setting is so important for happiness. I think Lyubomirsky sums it up pretty well with:
“Find a happy person, and you will find a project.”
She breaks it down to six benefits. Goal-setting…
provides us with a purpose.
increases our confidence and self-esteem.
adds structure and meaning to our lives.
helps us to master time by setting larger goals and breaking them down.
leads us to better cope with problems.
often involves engaging with others, and these social connections can be happiness-inducing by themselves.
She then goes on to describe the kinds of goals you should set. Some are obvious, like that they should be intrinsic and authentic, and others not so much, particularly “approach goals” and “activity goals.”
Approach goals: they should be approaching a desirable outcome, not avoiding an undesirable outcome.
Activity goals: rather than trying to simply better your circumstances (and then fall victim to hedonic adaptation), you should choose things that continually allow you to experience new challenges and opportunities.
I made an infographic on New Year’s Resolutions statistics, the most popular time to make goals. Note how few people feel that their goals were successful—that’s what stuck out to me most.
Okay, so, back to me and my goals.
If you noticed from my previous photos, I broke up 2017’s goal-setting by three-month periods, so April 1 (today), I will start a new cycle. (YAY! A fresh start! A new beginning! The goal equivalent of waking up and having coffee and getting excited for the day!)
I decided to make these goals, uh, fewer. I expected to have a lot more free time than I do this semester, and I realize that I need to prioritize some goals rather than risk not doing any at all.
Here are my 90-Day and April Goals:
They’re mainly based in habit-forming, not an end product. (By the way: ask me about habits. I’ve read so many books on the topic and I’m FASCINATED by how we form and depend on and break habits.)
Anyways, I’m feeling pretty motivated right now, and I have a good feeling that I’ll actually stick to these goals. I’m excited to move from goal-setting to goal-sticking-to-it these next few months.