New Year, New You?
The start of the year usually signals change for a lot of people; a time where new goals are set, and we make new promises to ourselves, but we often find that we fall short of these goals and by February they’ve been abandoned - setting the goal is easy but sticking to it and following through not so much. But why?
We often aren’t honest with ourselves about the change that needs to come about in order to successfully achieve the goal – “a goal is a detour from the path of least resistance” in that we are trying to achieve something we have never done so engaging in that requires a change in either skill, knowledge or motivation which can sometimes be seen as an inconvenience.
We can be guilty of setting goals that far exceed our skills, knowledge, capabilities or lifestyle without putting an action plan in place to level up or get ourselves into a position where achieving the goal is possible. I have definitely been guilty of this – a G-wagon on the new year vision board at a time when I’d never even had a driving lesson, and did not have a casual £100K sitting in the bank. This is not to say this could never be a goal, but at the time it was unrealistic.
So how do we set realistic goals and put ourselves in the best position to achieve them? Well, the first step is to understand the nature of the goal. Professor Elliott Berkman explains that any activity can be categorised into one of four types:
Simple, Routine Tasks – Require little skill or motivation.
Complex, Novel Tasks – Require a high level of skill and motivation.
Complex, Routine Tasks – Require high skill but low motivation.
Simple, Novel Tasks – Require high motivation but low skill.
That’s a lot to take in, so let’s break it down...the sheer concept of a goal implies that we are trying to achieve something that isn’t currently within our norm and requires some form of action to get there - we are moving from one dimension to another along one or both axes, so we need to identify if this goal requires a change of skill and/or a change in motivation. Chasing a goal with the same level of skill and/or motivation is unlikely to result in any kind of long lasting change.
Once you understand the nature of your goal, the next step is to identify the smaller steps you’ll need to tackle in order to achieve the overall goal think of these as the stepping stones, or the tools you need in order to be successful. So, if your goal requires an increase in skill, what could you do to increase your skills or knowledge in relation to the goal? Are there books you could read, a podcast to listen to, a course to take?
These smaller steps help rewire our brain to successfully achieve our goals. When you set and achieve a goal, no matter how small, your brain releases dopamine, creating feelings of happiness and satisfaction. Even deciding to go to the gym on a rainy morning when you don’t feel like it can trigger this dopamine release once achieved. This positive feedback motivates you to repeat the behaviour and continue working toward the long-term goal.
We can make these smaller goals even easier— sticking with the example of the gym, packing your bag and choosing your outfit the night before removes barriers and simplifies the process of going. Neurologically, as we work on our goals, the brain connections related to those tasks strengthen, making them easier over time.
This all sounds simple right? Identify the goal, break it down into smaller steps, and tackle those steps. But life doesn’t always work like that and sometimes things really get in the way, and there are bigger obstacles we need to overcome, procrastination, fear of failure and even lack of accountability. Overcoming these challenges could look like breaking tasks into smaller, immediate actions to counter procrastination, viewing setbacks as learning opportunities to reduce the fear of failure, and creating accountability by sharing goals with others or tracking progress. And sometimes we need to adjust our approach. If something isn’t working, ask yourself: Do I need to tweak my goal, my strategy, or my timeline?
To achieve our goals, we need to break them into manageable steps while removing as many barriers as possible. The more we work on these smaller steps, the easier they become, and the closer we get to our overall goal. By getting clear on our goals, tapping into the brain’s natural reward system, and staying adaptable, we can turn aspirations into real, lasting achievements.
