New year goal setting and online support community

New Year: How to accept where you are and grow from here – by togetherall

When the new year rolls around, it’s easy for us to feel like we need to accomplish everything we didn’t get the chance to tackle last year. Sometimes we can put so much pressure on ourselves to improve every aspect of our lives, we can feel anxious, depressed, or overwhelmed.

There’s no problem with setting goals for yourself, but it is important to work towards our goals while being kind to ourselves.

Do you have areas of your life you want to work on this year? Try some of the following tips from the goal-setting guide in the Togetherall platform.

Decide what matters to you

Think about an area of your life you’d like to develop or work on. This could be incorporating physical activity, mindfulness, meal prepping, or learning something new.

Ask yourself: What’s important to you? Think about something you want to do, not something you feel like you must do. Remember, prioritizing one goal will likely mean you need to shift time/energy spent in other areas. For example, if you want to add exercise to your day, you may need to determine how to spend less time on other activities.

Start small and spell it out

Every major journey begins with a first step. To help yourself achieve big goals, allow yourself to start small. Identify two small action steps to help you achieve your goal. It’s important to make these steps achievable, small, and have a plan in place to achieve them.

For example, if you want to start meditating in the new year, instead of starting with a big goal that you’ll meditate 20 minutes every morning before you head out the door, try starting with a more realistic goal such as meditating for 5 minutes twice a week and see how that goes. Once you start a new habit you enjoy, you can gradually adjust it and eventually make it part of your daily routine.

Make things easier for yourself

Think about an area where you succeeded in the past and adapt it to your new goal. Reflecting on previous success can help to motivate and inspire us to channel our strengths into new endeavors.

Get support with your goals from a friend or someone who can help hold you accountable

It’s easier to work towards your goals when you have someone to talk to. Tell someone you trust your goals and the steps you’re taking to work towards them. They might join you on your journey or set some goals for themselves.

If you’re not sure who to talk to, try Togetherall’s online community where you can receive validation and support from others who understand.

Accept where you are right now and learn

It’s hard to quickly create new behaviors or suddenly change your habits. It may take a few tries to create goals that are important to you or to set yourself up for success.

Just remember:

prioritize
set realistic goals with achievable plans
get support from those who will support your efforts. One step at a time.

If you feel like you need a safe space to talk to someone who understands, try Togetherall; a free online mental health peer community where you can safely and anonymously share how you’re feeling and get support from others. Togetherall is monitored 24/7 by trained mental health professionals and offers resources and courses, like goal setting guides in addition to its supportive community.