Why Goals Are Important & How To Choose Them

Come January every year, I usually choose not to make New Years Resolutions. It's not because I'm morally opposed that I judge anybody who does harshly (if anything, more power to you!). To me, a resolution is a decision to do or not do something, whether it is to work out or to stop eating junk food or to read one book a month. A goal is an aim or desired result that you work toward. I suppose those could sound the same to some, put for me, accomplishing a goal is a lot more rewarding than not breaking a resolution.

For the past three or four years, I've created "To Do Lists" or lists of goals, whether big or small, to accomplish throughout the duration of the year. Instead of telling myself in January that I'm going to get fit, I'll put "incorporate yoga into a weekly routine." Boom, goal set!

My annual goals usually revolve around finances, academics, and personal issues. It's really just a slight change in words that transforms a resolution into a goal. For finances, a resolution would be to save more money in general. As a goal, I would make it save money for apartment in summer. There's a "due date" for this one that I want to work to accomplish. Get good grades is an easy resolution to make, studying four to five hours every other day is not.

But Francesca, how do I even go about picking my goals or resolutions?

Well, Y/N, that's a great question! I pick my goals one in three ways: noticing a change that I want to make in my personality/lifestyle (become more confident, save money, get As, etc), spit of the moment "I want to do this!" and looking at what I didn't accomplish from old lists (or from other people's lists on Pinterest). I suppose that is technically three and a half or four ways, but I think you get the jist.

Sometimes goals just come to you. I saw somebody's recipe book on Pinterest and I thought that was a great idea, so I added it to my list. Was there any reason why I needed to put watch Gossip Girl or Gilmore Girls on my list? I was going to do them anyways...but it really is a nice feeling to cross something off of your to-do list. Even that little extra boost of energy and confidence from finishing something you set out to accomplish is worth every second you put into making that list.

Whether you choose to live life through resolutions or goals or even neither, I hope that you have a great time doing it. Remember, don't sweat it if you have to break a resolution or don't accomplish a goal. It's not the end of the world and you can always try it again in the future or pick it back up again when you recover.

What's one of your resolutions or goals for 2015?