Goals for the New Year (2017)

Photo by: Yasemin K.
Photo by: Yasemin K.

The New Year is here and with it, a bundle of newfound energy and hope. I love making lists, and this year I decided it would be useful to scribble down a list of goals for 2017.

I am separating “goals” from my New Year’s Resolution because in my head they seem to be two different things. To me, a New Year’s Resolution should be one thing—just ONE—that will improve the quality of your life.

In contrast, goals are more of a collection of things that will help you grow as a person, with the aim of placing you closer to the person you were made to be by the end of the year. A resolution can be more creative, whereas goals are more practical. I’ll talk about New Year’s Resolutions in another post. Here, I want to focus more on goals.

One of the hardest part about making goals for the New Year is the impulse to get a little too carried away. A new year feels like a time for us to start over, and it’s all too tempting to attempt to start from scratch.

The New Year isn’t so much a time for us to start over or overhaul our lives but rather, it is a time for us to re-examine who we are and who we long to be.

When making your goals, it is helpful to consider several questions:

How have I changed over this past year?

Who am I today?

What are my faults and/or weaknesses? What are my strengths?

What is important to me? What things were important last year that no longer are?

What do I imagine as the perfect version of myself? Who do I want to be?

The New Year isn’t so much a time for us to start over or overhaul our lives but rather, it is a time for us to re-examine who we are and who we long to be.

The other thing that is important when setting new goals is to think not just about what you want to achieve, but how you want to achieve it. Breaking the goals down into bite sized pieces helps with this, as does using various goal setting formulas. For my goals, I used the SMART formula that I learned in my Stress Management class at school a few years ago. SMART is an acronym that stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-bound.

I also looked at the different areas of my life that I wanted to work on and broke my goals down into sections. I broke my goals into three main categories: Blog goals, book goals, and personal goals. I figured that breaking it up would make my list seem more tackle-able and easier to manage.

Here are my goals for 2017, using the SMART formula.

Book Goals

In 2016 I published my first book. This coming year, I’d really like to focus on marketing as well as on writing book two.

  1. By the end of 2017 I would like to have sold at least 250 copies of my book, which is half of the first run of books we printed in July.
  2. By the end of 2017 I would like to increase my social media following by 100 people per network. That’s two people a week, which I think is very doable!
  3. By the end of 2017 I would like to increase book awareness by attending 3 conferences/festivals/conventions, being interviewed by at least 4 media sources, and rolling out an advertising campaign.
  4. By the end of 2017 I would like to have published book two of my series

Blog Goals

I’ve decided that this year, I care less about how many people read/find this blog and more about improving my self and my content. Therefore, for my blog goals, I am focusing mainly on things that will challenge me to produce better content.

  1. By the end of 2017 I would like to be posting 3 times per week at regular times/days.
  2. By the end of 2017 I would like to be using better quality photographs by using props, pre-planning shoots, finding examples, getting crisply focused images, and using lighting and composition to tell a story.
  3. By the end of 2017 I would like to have developed my own portfolio of “stock photos” to use for when I don’t have visual content for a post. That way I can move towards my goal of using only my own art and photography without sacrificing quality.
  4. By the end of 2017 I would like to be pre-planning content by using my planner and the post scheduler on WordPress.

Personal Goals

By the end of 2017 I would like to be praying the Liturgy of the Hours daily. Depending on what job I get after graduation, it may not be possible to do this all day, but I can at least pray one or two of the hours.

  1. By the end of 2017 I would like to have read at least 12 books.
  2. By the end of 2017 I would like to have developed a personal style that I feel comfortable in and that expresses my identity. I will do this by using Pinterest, my blog, a style app (Stylebook), and a journal (Day One).
  3. By the end of 2017 I would like to have developed a hobby.
  4. By the end of 2017 I would like to have eliminated sugar from my diet with the exception of after dinner and special occasions.
  5. By the end of 2017 I would like to get Flash’s Canine Good Citizenship Certification and finish his service dog training.
  6. By the end of 2017 I would like to find a form of exercise that I enjoy.
  7. By the end of 2017 I would like to be more organized by using my planner, keeping my house tidy, and developing organizational strategies. Part of keeping the house tidy includes making the bed every morning and having a dish-free sink at the end of every night.

Let’s talk! What are your goals for 2017? What are some goal making tips of your own? Let me know in the comment section below!

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