Checking In With Your Goals
Just before the start of 2016, we talked about setting goals for the new year. As we come to the end of the first month of the year, now is a perfect time to check in on the goals you set for the year.
It is not too early to evaluate your progress on achieving your goals. It is better to recognize and correct any mistakes you may be making now than wait till June or July to do so.
There are many advantages to checking in on your goals. First of all, you can determine if you even want to reach that goal anymore. For example, maybe your goal was to save a certain amount of money towards traveling to Spain at the end of the year. When you check in on your goal, you may realize that you don't want to go to Spain anymore (or it's no longer a priority) and instead you want to save money towards purchasing a new car. In which case, you would need to adjust the amount you need to save and the time frame as well.
Another advantage of checking in on your goals is that something may change in your personal life to make you want to alter your goals. Maybe a goal of yours was to backpack around Europe but you now have a new niece and want to be close to home to help out. Now your goal would be to find a summer job to keep you busy when you're not helping out with the baby.
You can also correct any mistakes or remove any stumbling blocks that may affect you reaching your goals. Let's say that you are trying to save money so you can move into your own place soon. After checking in on your progress towards reaching that goal, you may discover that you're spending too much money on shopping and eating out and may not be able to move out when you want to. Checking in will make you re-motivated and re-energized to reach your goal and you'll correct your mistake of overspending.
All these are great reasons for checking in on your goals one month into the new year. Remember, it's okay for your goals to have changed due to a number of reasons or for you to just not want them anymore. A lot can change in a year and we are constantly learning more about ourselves and what we want from life. Checking in on your goals constantly throughout the year allows you to stay focused on what you want to accomplish by the end of the year.
Tell us, have you identified any mistakes you may be making now that may keep you from reaching your goals? Or have your goals changed since you wrote them at the beginning of the year?
