Here we are with 2021 fast approaching and if you are anything like me you are relieved to see 2020 finally coming to an end.

The New Year brings the promise of a new start, a moment to begin work on changing everything you might dislike about yourself and step towards a newer, healthier you. January 1st is a great day to start making all the changes you meant to do all year long.

One of my favorite things to do the last week of December is to sit and reflect on where I was a year ago. Thinking through everything that has changed in the last 12 months, there is usually some good, some bad, and some ugly, but all those events are what have led me to who I am today.

After years of making “resolutions” that I have generally broken by February 1st. I started thinking about what I can do to encourage myself to make real change and not just make statements of things that never get accomplished.

I began making goals instead of resolutions.

I realize you might consider this semantics, but I think I can convince you otherwise. Resolutions are often broad statements that have no real guidelines. Goals break down the things you want to accomplish into manageable, modifiable, and measurable steps.

Resolution: To get fit in 2021.

Goal: To be able to walk/run a 5k by summer.

Doesn’t one of these seem more obtainable then the other? Goals can be made to look however you need, and they can be developed even further into monthly and weekly goals.

Monthly: I will walk at least 4 miles every week in the month of January.

Weekly: I will walk at least 20 minutes a day four days this week.

Have you ever made a resolution, but didn’t even know where to begin? Or can you remember that moment of disappointment when you realized you were not able to keep that resolution?

As the new year quickly approaches and you start making goals, my biggest piece of advice is to give yourself grace and forgiveness when you encounter setbacks. Understand that it is hard work to change or start new habits. There will be days you take two steps forward and one step backwards.

Continuing to step forward, even when it feels like baby steps, will make greater change in a year then you can even imagine. Shake off the bad days and continue to work towards your goals. I look forward to what 2021 has to bring. I hope to encourage you and help make it the best year yet for us all.