Time for a new you?

Looking to make some positive changes in the new year but don’t know where to start?

Want to feel more fulfilled, more successful and more like you are getting things right but don’t know how? 

Are looking to stop living your life on auto-pilot but don’t know how to live more intentionally?

The goal-setting challenge

Sometimes we can feel like we need more from/in our lives but we don’t know where to start.

I know this. Because this was me. 

And if this is you too, I want to share some suggestions that made a big difference in my life. These are the secrets behind my personal definition of success.

Let’s start with goals

If you aren’t thinking about goals – you certainly should be!

Goals are an essential component of a life that feels fulfilled. They give your life essential structure, direction and a sense of achievement that helps you thrive.

But remember, not all goals are created equally. The key to goals that enrich your life is that they:

• Are manageable and practical in your busy life
• Align with a rewarding and fulfilling vision of your life
• Are designed the right way so you set yourself up for success

Related posts: Goal setting challenge equals wildly transformative

Meaning

Want a happy life?

Happiness could be thought of in two ways:

• The more fleeting – jumping up and down with excitement and joy
• The more enduring – feelings of contentment, fulfillment and worthwhileness derived from things that are meaningful.

The older we get the more we equate meaning in our lives (option 2) with a happy life. Additionally, having meaning in life has been linked to life satisfaction and better physical health and wellbeing.

So, if you are thinking about goals for the new year one place you might want to start is: 

• Think about the things in your life that bring you a sense of meaning.

And if it feels a little lacking – a great goal would be to aim to sprinkle extra meaningful things into your week.

Purpose

A sense of purpose – or a driving reason to get out of bed in the morning – has many benefits to both your mental and physical health.

A sense of meaning is an important part of purpose. The other two important components according to research are: 

• Goals aligned to the pursuit of meaning & 
• The pursuit of the benefit of others.

If you are thinking about your purpose. A good place to start is to think about if you have a compelling reason to jump out of bed in the morning? 

If you can’t think of one – it might be worth having a brainstorm. Think about: 

• How you can be of service to others, by
• Doing activities that bring you meaning.

Then an excellent goal for the new year is to put a plan in place to make this happen.

Related post: Living a purposeful life – is not quite enough

Happiness

Do you have enough things in your life at the moment that make you smile, laugh and bring you feelings of joy?

Above, I mentioned the kind of enduring happiness we get from meaning/purpose and the many benefits. But we need to make sure we have enough of the fleeting/exciting type as well!

Because the fact is your life can be chockablock full of purposeful and personally rewarding activities but you find that you are missing laughter, joy and play.

If this resonates with you, a good place to start is thinking about the things in your week that bring you joy, make you laugh/smile, feel fun and playful. 

When you weigh them up against the other things in your week, does it feel enough? 

If not, sounds like you have a fun goal to re-address the balance in your week!

Values

Do you know what your core values are?

I like to think of core values as your most important boxes – that sit right in the foundations of who you are. They are tick boxes. And the more you tick these boxes the better you can feel about life. 

These are the things that motivate your behaviour. But, you can ignore them and act in conflict without realising. And unfortunately, sometimes in life when we are so caught up in work, family, etc. We might not realise that these boxes are not getting ticked.

In my experience, living aligned with your core values can be the difference between a life that feels… blah and one that feels fulfilling.

So, adding more activities to your life that align with your core values could be a great goal for you to consider in the new year.

Mindset

Are you someone that sees the glass is half empty or half full? 

If you have read the above and thought to yourself: 

“I have goals, meaning/purpose, happiness and value-aligned activities in my life. But I still feel like things should be better.”

You might need to work on your mindset.

The way we feel, react and interact (for the most part) is all a consequence of our choices. Whether conscious or not these are driven by our mindset.

And unfortunately, our brains are wired to be pretty negative (for safety reasons).

If you work on having a positive mindset then there is a chain reaction of positivity that can happen in your life. 

If you neglect your mindset and let it sit comfortably in negativity, you can expect a negative chain reaction.

So, if you are feeling the glass is half empty right now – this is a great thing to work on (if you are willing to do the hard work!).

Related post: How to stop being negative

Ready to transform into a new you?

If you are ready for bigger and better things the first step is to discover what you need in your life to transform it into one that feels rewarding. 

Consider these elements above and discover what might be missing from your life.

This could be the first step towards creating a life you want and deserve.

Want more help creating a life you love?

Feel free to check out my free course below that will support you to explore your life so you can build the goals you need for a more rewarding, fulfilling and intentional life.