Why It’s Fine to Not Focus on Your New Year Goals Right Now
When a brand new year begins people tend to jump straight to their resolutions, planners, and goals. I think goal setting at the start of the year can be productive for some but I know it doesn’t work for everyone. For those people, I think it’s fine to not focus on your New Year goals right now. Instead, I think you should put the focus on yourself and what you need in the immediate future, not the near or distant one.
To give you some background on how I came to this conclusion let’s rewind a bit. At the end of 2016, I decided to pull back from the blog and most of my social media channels, except Instagram. I wanted to take my own advice and enjoy the holiday season, not be stressed out by it.
That’s why I may not have responded to your comment, visited your blog or touched base with you via email during these past few weeks. I’ll get there soon so don’t worry but for now, let’s bring it back to the subject at hand.
Make a Resolution . . . Or Don’t
The point is that there is no point in making a plan for this year if you’re forcing it. Don’t feel compelled to have your whole strategy figured out for the year just because you see everyone and their mom declaring their “words of the year.” In fact, if resolutions haven’t worked out for you in the past then I urge you to just skip it altogether!
A failed resolution just leads to disappointment, self-loathing and the comparison game. Instead, focus on what you want and what little steps you can take to get there. No grand proclamations, no entirely filled out planners, no master plan, just small manageable goals you can actually get done.
If you’re nodding in agreement then scroll on down as I elaborate on why it’s okay to not focus on your goals and offer a no-pressure alternative!
The “New Year” is Just a Marker of Time
The New Year isn’t real. Okay, that probably sounds a bit dramatic but hear me out. The New Year is an arbitrary marker of time that changes depending on your culture, religion or region. If you wanted, you could even mark a new year by your birthday!
We use January 1st as the start of the new year just to simplify life and prevent confusion. That’s it. So, if you ever get a bit anxious about the beginning of the year just remember that it’s technically not even a real thing.
Don’t Get Caught Up In Mob Mentality
Like I said before, just because every other post in your feed might be about resolutions and personal development doesn’t mean that you have to scrounge up a goal just to fit in. After all, if you’re not truly passionate about something it’s going to show. You’ll put half your soul into it and before you know it March will be here and you will have dropped the ball.
Don’t waste your time like that. If you need to take things slow, mull over a few ideas, and be more methodical with your choices then do it. I spoke about this here and I really believe that easing into your next move is better than hustling for the sake of it.
Only You Know When It’s Go Time
For me, I knew that I needed more time to get my plans together. So I prolonged my holiday break and didn’t release any new blog content. I did, however, update this post on 50+ essential blogging tools. It was important to me that I take the time I needed and work at a slower pace. That allowed me the chance to work on things that have been on the back burner for a while, reevaluate past projects and decide on my next steps without distractions.
It can be difficult enough to come up with an effective strategy on your own. Throw everyday responsibilities and daily blog tasks on top of it and it becomes near impossible to give it the attention it deserves. I knew what I needed to move forward and only you know what you need to move on too.
The No Pressure Goal Getters tool
So now you know it’s okay to not focus on your New Year goals right now. Maybe you won’t even tackle them in January at all. It’s all about what personally best suits you and your needs.
However, if you do plan to at least think about your goals this month then I have a special resource just for you! I put together a set of worksheets (see below) to help take the pressure off your goal setting and put the focus on you! After all, there is no point in zeroing in on a goal if it doesn’t resonate with you on multiple levels. That just leads to disappointment and discouragement.
Take the time to go through this worksheet and I’m positive that you’ll have a clear sense of direction ready to go whenever you are!
Have you started working on your goals? Or do you think it’s best to not work on your new year goals now?