New Years Resolutions - How to achieve your goals!

After living what I like to think was the best year of my life, I'd like to challenge myself to top it. There were, undoubtedly things I didn't manage to achieve last year, many in fact. This year I'd like to reflect back and be able to say "I completed almost everything I wanted to do!"

Instead of setting the standard New Years resolutions, which only set you up to fail. I wanted to take a different approach. And good news.. you're not too late (you're never too late) to make changes. Here is how I aim to make small changed that will make a big impact in my life in 2013, and tips on how you can do the same.

My first tip is to write small goals. For example, telling yourself at the start of the year that you WILL lose 3 stone by summer might work for some people, but it's highly likely that if you use this approach, you will fail. Needless to say, this isn't good for you mentally, and will only bring you down if you do indeed fail. 

Start by writing a long list of small changes you'd like to see in every area your life. Just reel them off one by one, don't stop to think too much! You'd like to tackle that ever growing book pile on your shelf? Add in "I will read 10 books this year" (or more, depending on how much you love to read). You really want to get in shape for summer? Write down "I would like to cut out chocolate" or "I will complete the 30 day shred" or even think smaller such as.. "I will go on a walk for 5 minutes every day" 

Hold on, I know what you're thinking... if you add them all up then you have far too much on your plate! Don't worry, the trick is, you wont be doing them all at once, you can take them a month at a time! What I'm doing is writing 6 months worth of goals, people change and plans change and I don't think I'll have the same goals in half a year's time, let alone a whole year. (more on that later)

Add things to your list that you know you will complete. That way, even if you only manage to do half the things you set out, you wont feel bad about it. Add things like "Buy myself a pretty dress", "Watch a horror movie" or "Pamper myself" to your list. See how easy it is? You'll start rolling them out from here

Got your list of goals? Ideally you'd like somewhere between 12-60 small goals, dependant on how many changes you'd like to make, but after the last tip, that seems pretty easy. Ok, on to the next step

Split all your goals into separate categories, for example:

• Health and Fitness
• Lifestyle
• Finance
• Social

Etc etc. This will make it easier to decide what you want to achieve and when. 

Make your top goal for each category number one priority, that way you can get it out of the way in the first month. If you feel that some goals are too big, add them to another month too!

Set each goal out by month, under the right category and in it's priority order. Like I said, I'm only going up to June, I may start again after that. This way I can physically and mentally de-clutter before the summer! Also, basing it on a 6 month rota will enable you to see progression and see the end in sight. As an example, down below I've shown a category of my own personal resolutions I'd like to achieve this year, here are my simple blogging goals

See how easy it is? Some of these will be achieved in a day, others in a month. You're all set to go! Need just a smidge more inspiration? Check the next tip!

Mood boards are a great way of staying focussed and visually imagining your goals being put into place. I am a visual learner, so this is the key to success for me. Above is a mood board I made with pictures from weheartit (credit to their original sources), it includes saving for my trip to LA, skating more, embracing my colourful hair, exploring and just enjoying life!

You could make your mood board about anything, health, fitness, travel! And they're great to print off and pin on your wall, or set as your desktop background to give you an inspirational boost every day! You can obviously make them much more detailed than mine is, be specific, maybe add text? Maybe even create a mood board out of magazine scraps.

If you're thinking of creating one online, you could always use inspirational sites like tumblr and pinterest to collect images that inspire you. I use my tumblr (glitterxo.tumblr.com) to visually represent my aesthetic likes in terms of style etc. Scrolling my dashboard always gives me an inspiration boost as people always post creative and positive things.

My last tip is simply to review your list in June, check of what you have and haven't done (or you can do this as you go). Don't be down if you haven't completed many of your resolutions, just get ready to start all over again on July 1st!

Good luck everyone. Let me know if you tried this? I'd love to see any mood boards or lists :) And let me know how it goes!

Have fun xo