Refreshingly Practical Advice for Setting Goals in 2024

It’s that time of year – when your social media feeds and inbox are crowded with “advice” for how to prep for 2024.  From fancy planners to fitness apps to juice cleanses and supplements – everywhere you turn someone claims to have the “solution” to becoming the person you want to be starting January 1.

Here at True Contributors, we love a good planner and we use fitness apps. But what we’ve learned is that these tools are ineffective without a meaningful plan.

What is a “meaningful plan”?  It’s one that focuses on goals  that are meaningful or important to you for reasons that are personal and authentic, and whose goal is not necessarily a deadline to meet, but a transformation in the person you are. 

So, here’s refreshingly practical advice for how to achieve your goals in 2024:

Step 1: Identify What Matters to YOU

It’s easy to focus on what you want to achieve, but research shows that if you’re clear on why you want to achieve it, your chances of success increase significantly.  Moreover, the point is to turn goals into habits – into things that are incorporated into your daily life on a consistent basis. 

In a world where we are bombarded by marketing messages claiming to show us what happy people look like (fit, "balanced," well-read, successful) it’s important to evaluate those messages through your lens for happiness and/or success.  If you take on a goal without understanding why it’s important to you, you’re much more likely to get sidetracked, frustrated, and, eventually, to give up.

It may sound great to become a more well-read person, or to land that promotion, or to lose those pesky 10 lbs.  But if the why of those goals is not compelling to you – here’s our advice: move on.  We’re all fulfilled by different things.  If reading more, losing weight, or making more money isn’t TRULY what you want – move on and find a goal where your “why” answer is compelling to you.

Step 2: Turn Your What into Why

Ask yourself: What will make a difference in your life?  Why?

Want to improve your ability to have a hard conversation?  Ask yourself why.  Is it because you have things to contribute to a problem but don't know how?  Is it because you want to improve communication in your relationships?

Want to learn to hold people accountable at home or the office?  Ask yourself why.  Is it because you are overworked and need others to chip in?  Is it because your projects are not meeting deadlines and you want that to change?

Want to become a more present partner or parent?  Why? Is it because you feel like the years are flying by with your children and you’re not noticing the important things?  Is it because you value family time but it’s not happening as often as you and your children need it to?

Step 3: Pinpoint Your TOP Goals 

Start by identifying 3 to 5 professional goals and 3 to 5 personal goals.  Now, here’s the hard part: strike through those goals until you’ve identified your top goal in each category.  That’s right – ONE goal in each category.  That’s it. 

Why just one?  That’s simple: because it’s way too hard to change more than one thing at once – at least if you want to keep it up.

Changing habits is hard, hard work.  It requires entering a mental state called “growth mindset” which, among other things, requires that you pick yourself up and keep going every time you have a setback or an unexpected challenge.  This is not easy to do.  If you’re working on multiple goals at once – all of which require growth mindset – you will get overwhelmed, frustrated, and ultimately, disappointed.

Remember: you can always add on more as the year progresses. But start with FOCUS.

Pick the thing that matters to you the most – or that will make the biggest difference in your life – and give it all you have.

Step 4: Make a plan 

Once your goals are identified – write them down.  Then map them out week to week, month to month, quarter to quarter.  Take note of work deadlines, holidays, vacations, or anything else that may require you to modify your milestones.

Pick a start date and be sure you choose one that you can commit to.  You may not want to start your goal on January 1 – you may not be ready to commit fully until January 15 (and that’s ok!).  Help yourself succeed by picking goals that are meaningful and achievable and start when you know, realistically, that you’ll be ready.

Now, finally, you can consider the tools that you need.  This is where the planners, the apps, the class you’ve been thinking about taking, come into play.  There are a wide variety of tools and software that can help you stay organized and on top of your goals. 

NOW is the time to start the planning.  Set aside an hour on your calendar before the end of December to identify your goals with compelling why answers and map out your plan.

Want to learn more about how to bring growth mindset or other essential skills for high performance into your organization?  We’d love to help.  Simply hit “contact” at the blue box on the right side of your screen (desk) or below (mobile).