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It’s time to set new intentions and create your New Year’s Goals.

Because where you direct your energy and attention matters. Which is why clarifying your goals and knowing where to direct all that focus is important.

This is my simple 4 step process to setting new year goals:

Decide on my Word of the Year
Get really honest with myself about what I want
Set 3-5 SMART goals for my life & business
Break down my big goals into smaller achievable steps

Simple on paper.

Harder in real life, but as long as you stick to the process you’ll be surprised how productive this exercise can be.

In This Post I Cover:

Step 1: Decide on your Word of the Year

Step 2: Get honest with YOUR why

Step 3: Set SMART Goals

Step 4: Break Down your Goals

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Step 1: Decide on your Word of the Year

In a nutshell, your word or phrase for the year is your overall intention. Everything I do throughout the year comes back to this one word. I’ve created a post & video on this very topic, so I won’t explain it all here, but basically it’s one word to guide your overall direction.

I started this about 6 years ago now and it’s been so helpful that I’ve continued doing it and love helping others find their word.

For 2020 my word was ESTABLISH.
For 2021 my word is ENGAGE.

There is no right or wrong word/phrase here. I usually consider many different ones before settling. But once I find it, I know immediately. It feels right and more importantly, I don’t forget what it is. So if you think of the perfect word and then forget a few hours later, that’s not it. Keep searching.

Step 2: Get honest with YOUR why

The first step to creating your goals is to connect with your inner soul and figure out your why. These should not come from a place of obligation, but truly a place of desire.

If you’re using the word “should” before stating a goal, you need to keep digging. When you say “I should do this” or “I should do that”, you are placing other people’s expectations on yourself.

And when you put on someone else’s expectations and moonlight them as your own goals, you will fail.

Something that comes from within you will be strong.
And urgent.
And crystal clear.

Which is why you gotta get honest.

Maybe you already know what you want for 2021. Awesome! Congrats! It’s a huge achievement to get really clear on your desires.

But if you are stuck in the shackles of should, it’s time to do some work. I recommend spending at least 30 minutes diving into your subconscious and asking it “what do you want?”.

Every answer that pops into your head, take apart piece by piece.

Ask yourself:
Why do you want that?
Why is achieving that important to your future?
Is it something you actually want or something someone wants for you?

Get rid of anything that isn’t truly yours and dive deeper into the things that feel good. That is where you will find your true why.

Step 3: Set SMART Goals

Once you know what you really want, the next step is to write them down.

I personally use Trello to keep track of my goals for each year, quarter & month (<— yep I get that specific).

Whatever this looks like for you, write them down and commit to reviewing them regularly. Because setting a goal and intention is all good, but if you don’t remind yourself what you’re working towards they can very easily get lost.

The other thing about goal setting is that you need some way to track if you’ve achieved them. Using the SMART system will really help if you’re new to this.

S – specific
M- measurable
A – achievable
R – realistic
T – timely

For example, you may really want to win the lottery. And while it’s specific, measurable and technically achievable… it’s not very realistic or timely.

A better example of a SMART goal would be to “not miss any client deadlines this week.” It’s short & sweet, but hits all the markers of a SMART goal.

Another example would be last year I had a goal of attending 2 Digital Nomad Conferences. Due to Covid, I only made it to one before all conferences were cancelled, but on top of being a SMART goal it also would have helped me achieve my other desires to build more community (personal), network with people in my field (business) and travel to new destinations (travel).

Not all goals are going to hit so many areas of your life, but some wil, and that makes them even stronger.

Step 4: Break Down your Goals

Once you have your yearly, overarching goals set, you’ll want to break them down even further into mini-goals that will help you actually achieve them.

I typically break them down into 4 quarters (Jan-Mar, Apr-Jun, Jul-Sep, Oct-Dec). For example, if my overall goal is to pay off all credit card debt. The first step is identify the total sum to be paid off. Then break it down into realistic, quarterly amounts that can be achieved. And then figure out how much needs to be paid each month to reach the quarterly goal.

Make sense?

It’s possible to have a big yearly goal and not even get started on it until later in the year. That’s ok! You don’t have to do all the things at one time! In fact, you probably can’t so it’s okay to plan accordingly.

TLDR? Here’s a summary: