5 Tips to Achieve Goals in 2022

How was your start to 2022? Did you set some New Year’s resolutions? We are nearly five weeks into January and research indicates that many of us will have already faltered or given up on some or all of our goals. 

Why don’t we achieve our goals?

There are many reasons why we may not achieve the goals we set for ourselves, such as:

• Setting too many goals
• Setting unrealistic goals
• Not being clear on your goals
• Not measuring progress
• Not being accountable

How to kick those goals

There are a number of things that we can do to set ourselves up for success:

1. Set SMART Goals

When setting a goal, it should be SMART. This means it needs to be:

• Specific - the goal needs to be clear and precise
• Measurable –you need objective evidence to measure your progress towards, and achievement of, the goal
• Achievable – the goal needs to be realistic and reasonably easy to accomplish
• Relevant – it needs to be relevant to you and also aligned with any longer-term goals
• Time-based – you need a target date for completing the goal to help provide motivation

For example, saying that you want to lose weight is not a SMART Goal. Instead this can be reframed as a SMART goal, such as “By 1 July 2022 I will weigh X kilograms”.

2. Start small

Setting too many goals will most likely result in feeling overwhelmed and an inability to then act on any of those goals properly. Instead, focus on one or two things you'd like to change. Interestingly, one or two positive habit changes can lead to positive changes in other areas of our lives. For example, if we start to exercise more regularly we are then more likely to then eat healthier and get better quality sleep.

3. Measure and reward

Most goals can be broken down into smaller steps, which not only makes them easier to measure, but this can help increase your motivation. For example, you may have a goal of running 5km by 1 June 2022. This can be broken down into smaller steps such as run 1 km by 1 February, 2km by 1 March and so on. Keep track of your progress and the milestones you hit. This can act as a reward in itself or you may wish to give yourself a reward as you hit each milestone, for example buying a new running shirt at each monthly milestone.

4. Be accountable

Accountability is about making a commitment to taking certain action. If someone else is aware of your goal, this can be a great way to get support and encouragement for your goals. You can be accountable to friends, family, the world at large (for example, on social media), or even a third party such as a life coach.

5. Be flexible

As the past two years have shown us, life can change quickly and we can’t always control what happens. As a result, our goals may need adjustment or even a complete re-think. It’s okay to change your goals if they no longer suit you.