WELCOME TO THE NATIONAL GOAL-SETTING MONTH OF THE YEAR. Just kidding. There's no such thing. BUT there could be, judging by how EVERYONE plus their pet goldfish is making New Year's Resolutions!
I'M 100% FOR NEW YEAR'S GOALS!
I actually approve of goals more than resolutions. GOALS sound like something you have the full year to achieve + like you ACTUALLY HAVE A PLAN FOR IT.
definition of goal:
the object of a person's
ambition or effort;
an aim or desired result.
See? It involves effort, and a desired result.
RESOLUTIONS on the other hand sound more ... casual.
definition of resolution:
a firm decision to do
or not to do something.
This just means A DECISION. "Goals" indicate more long term planning. Besides which, a resolution is just TO DO OR NOT DO. Sometimes goals are more complicated than just DOING SOMETHING.
(^^ btw thank you Google for the definitions)
SO BACK TO THE POINT. I love making goals for the New YEars (even though I've been doing it for like ... one year ... so far. And failed. lol) but ... I've come to a bit of a problem.
SHOULD I ANNOUNCE MY GOALS TO THE WHOLE WORLD (aka the blogosphere)??
PROS:
- accountability
- just jumping on the bandwagon
- encouragement
- applause from everyone who reads it for your MONSTER ASPIRATIONS
- people who expect you to RECAP at the end of the year and share how well you did
CONS:
- making goals too many and too big just cause
- just cause you need to write a long enough post
- just jumping on the bandwagon
- this pressure that you need TO ACCOMPLISH ALL THE STUFF just so you can tell people I DID IT
- generally just making goals and doing them for others to see
SO HERE'S MY LOGIC:
Why should I announce my goals to the world? It's not like it will help me accomplish things. If I want to have encouragement and accountability, why not just tell those people who will be helpful in it?
In creating a post called GOALS OF 2019 I might easily fall into the trap of:
- just making A TON OF GOALS bc others do so and
- just making goals of A CERTAIN KIND (aka writing/reading) just cos others do and cos that's what others want to see
- just doing those all year so that I can say to others LOOK AT ME
- just generally DOING ALL THIS FOR YOUR EYES and not because I need them
YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN?
AND I'm not saying people shouldn't announce their goals to the blogosphere! it can be great fun and helpful too! In fact I LOVE DOING IT (as I did last year and fell into all the aforementioned traps). BUT for this year I'm gonna keep my goals to myself and see whether it will be different from before!
and hey, if you REALLY REALLY want to know what I'm planning on, I'd be delighted and would probably let you know (that is, if you're not some random internet stranger) but PRIVATELY lol
SO THAT'S MY TWO CENTS and why I'm not doing a 2019 GOALS post this year.
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT SHARING RESOLUTIONS/GOALS? I'D LOVE TO KNOW!
and hope your 2019 is going awesomely so far!
xx lisa
I'm honestly not a big New Year resolutions/goals person in the first place? I need more motivation to do something than for it to just be January outside. (For example, I established the goal of getting into certain universities after weeks of research last summer. Whether it's January or not makes zero difference to my motivation, and I'm not going to horde my goals and only start working towards them at a certain time of year.) But when I DO have goals, it personally works for me to post them. Short + sweet posts are my jam, and I generally don't feel much pressure to have the same goals as everyone else. (Since their goals are all like getting into Harvard and reading 200 books and writing 8 novels and I'm like . . . if I tried to do all that, I wouldn't even have time to breathe.) The accountability thing is really what works for me; I feel so satisfied if I can say YES LOOK I DID THIS THING. But I totally understand why you wouldn't want to write these posts. All those pitfalls you mentioned are very real, and different things work for different people. Best of luck with your goals, whatever they may be!
ReplyDeleteEleanor | On the Other Side of Reality
Hahaha yeah I wasn't either till a year ago XDD BUT OH YEAH I mean, HEY YOU DO YOU AND IF THAT MOTIVATES YOU that's awesome!! the accountability is really great and it's like you have a community all doing exactly the same things and it just makes you feel good to share it!! also good luck on all the school/college stuff + your goals!! <333
DeleteOoh ooh ooh these are all such great points! I love that you pointed out the difference between "goal" and "resolution." I'd never thought of that before. With a resolution, if you fail for the first week (to, say, write 100 words or whatever) then it's like, "Oh, well, guess I blew it" and you go back to the old habits. But with a goal, you keep working at it all year.
ReplyDeleteAnd also, just the "doing it for other people's eyes." That is SUCH A GOOD POINT. That's the danger with a lot of social media, I guess.
aww thanks MEgan, glad you agree!! AND YES, YOU ARE ON POINT - that's exactly what I mean about goals vs resolutions!!! AHHH the dangers of social media EXACTLY. but it's different for everyone for sure! thanks for commenting!!
DeleteGOOD ON YA, LISA - I feel this way about goals sometimes, too xD. I actually feel REALLY pressured NOT to accomplish a goal sometimes after I've said it out loud? I dunno, it's weird, but if I say "I'm going to read 19261620 books this year!" then my brain is automatically like "but other things! Let's go do other things!" xD. So I'm kinda careful about what goals I put out there, haha!
ReplyDeleteYAY *high five* WOW REALLY!? That sounds more unusual but TOTALLY POSSIBLE. Treacherous brains lol happens to me too with other stuff XD (LIKE SCHOOL) ALL THE BEST ON EVERYTHING YOU WANT TO ACCOMPLISH THIS YEAR GIRL <333
DeleteHey, that's honestly a good idea. :)
ReplyDeleteI like that you want to keep your goals more personal. I have a list of goals, too. I haven't shared them yet, and maybe I won't. You inspire me, girl! <3
Happy New Year, my friend. <3
THANK YOU IVIE, do whatever seems best to you! Or like, share some goals, but keep some to yourself ;D HAPPY 2019 TO YOU TOO <3
DeleteLove this post! Some of your reasons for not sharing your 2019 goals are probably, and subconsciously, part of why I've never done it. Mostly, though, I think it's because the very idea of laying down yearly goals at all is super daunting to me. Daily, weekly, sometimes even monthly goals I can handle, but idk what it is about yearly goals... The only one I have is my Goodreads challenge. XD
ReplyDeleteAwesome post!
Lila @ It sounds like 2018 was a beautiful year for you. <3
I relate to having a couple-days spurt of bad mental health every now and then. I'll pray for you. <3 For me, a lot of it boils down to not connecting with God and being distracted by worldly things or life's curveballs. (So I could use prayer for faithfulness in prioritizing my relationship with God...)
I REALLY need to read Heist Society! :D
It was sooooo fun collabing with you! Thanks for reaching out about that. <3
YESSSSSS Alex Rider!! Those are VERY intense books, for sure.
Have another epic blogging year! And an epic year in general. :D
Lila @ The Red-Hooded Writer
NOOOOOOO, I copied the wrong comment on here alongside my own!!! *facepalm* SORRY. THIS IS SO EMBARRASING. *dies* xP
DeleteHEY NO WORRIES at least we all know you were commenting awesome things @ Nicole !!
Deleteahhhhhhhhhhhh yes everyone has their style *nods* and you're so right goals can be super daunting!! when I was little I could never figure what yearly goals meant exactly and how to accomplish them! starting small is best, and lol THE GOODREADS GOAL THING IS LIKE BIG, man.
THANK YOU FOR THE COMMENT LILA <333
*Likes this whole thread multiple times*
DeleteI love the goal vs resolution thing.. So cool!! And great points!! Tho I probably will post my 2019 goals everyone absolutely understand if u don't!! xx
ReplyDeletethank you so much Paige!! I'm glad you got it and I'd totally read your 2019 goals post if you did! I love seeing others' goals myself ;D
DeleteAgreed, goals are definitely personal and don't *need* to be shared with the world - the only real benefit is the accountability but often even that doesn't help me much, lol! I'm not gonna share them either, at least not as one big post. Instead, I'd like to try and practice more self-discipline to be accountable to me. :) And your goals vs. resolutions definitions were very interesting! Never thought of that before.
ReplyDeleteHaha YES, EMILY, glad you got my point :DD I definitely want to work on self-discipline too and YEAH I AGREE WITH you that it's important to learn to do things for yourself!! all the best to you in your new year's goals !! <333
DeleteI love this! I've never thought about it in that way before and you really made me reconsider my goals, why I make them, and WHY I share them. You brought up some great points!!!
ReplyDeleteAWWW THANK YOU KARA!! I'm so happy you liked this post and that it was think-worthy!! happy 2019 and goal-achieving to you ;DD
DeleteProps to you, Lisa, for doing this! I chose to post my goals/resolutions (they're honestly more goals than resolutions, but I call them resolutions because that's what they're more commonly known as) because *I* care too much about what people think to not do my resolutions, and it just adds another layer of accountability to me. I definitely think it's not for everyone, though, and I know a lot of people just post about their resolutions and don't actually do them.
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
HAHA GOOD TO KNOW HANNE and I certainly think its 100% fine for you to share the goals and I would totally love to also but I'm just experimenting to see the differences between doing so and not doing so! If sharing them is helpful for you I MEAN GO YOU!! thanks for the great comment girl!!
DeleteI'm not really a end-of-year-resolution-making kinda person (honestly, I make more resolutions on Sundays, after sermons, lol), but I do like making a few goalsof stuff I'd like to do starting a new year (or even month). So I understand...
ReplyDeleteLol I WASN'T EITHER FOR THE LONGERS TIME *until* I joined the blogosphere. Wow the internet can really teach you stuff XD Obviously it's good to make goals regularly bc you're more likely to keep them that way rather than BAM A TON OF RESOLUTIONS AT NEW YEAR'S and then you have no idea what to do, you know what I mean?? happy 2019 to you Julian, goals or no goals XD
DeleteI don't know if I'm going to share mine or not. I think I'm swaying more to not to.
ReplyDeleteYeah it's definitely worth thinking about !! Take your time to decide and not doing it is totally great too ;D Thanks for commenting!!
DeleteI love this post! I think it's very wise to keep some things like this more to yourself. I only announced my writing goals to the world, and resolutions likewise. Thing is, goals are for ourselves and are meant to make ourselves better. Whatever you're doing this year, we're all behind you anyway. :D
ReplyDeleteDanielle | silverphoenixwriter.blogspot.com
HEY THANKS SNAPS ! That's such a good point, like, KEEP /SOME/ THINGS to yourself!! Definitely! That would strike a perfect balance between accountability (cos you do need some in terms of writing goals lol) and privacy!! Aww you're the sweetest - same to you!! cheers, girl!!
DeleteSo all of this is basically why I didn't post a bunch of my goals on my blog either. Also because I like to take a while to really think about what I"m making a goal towards too. And then I'd have to do a recap at the end of the year and, ugh, I ALWAYS forget about those. But I guess goals are supposed to be super personal, right? I get the whole accountability thing, but like you said, it's best to just share them with the people that actually matter. So bravo, this post was a great new year's post! *claps approvingly*
ReplyDelete*HIGH FIVE* you are literally SO SMART bc at new year's we tend to JUMP RIGHT IN without doing realistic planning!! and recaps are the worst lol and even if you don't do a "goals" post at the beginning of the year you can always do a recap after right?? sharing goals with the people who can actually help is obviously the best way to go in my opinion! I also read that there were studies in which people were less likely to accomplish their goals if they shared them with a lot of people and I was like "wait what no way".
DeleteTHANKS FOR YOU COMMENT NICOLE!!!!
I love goals so much more than resolutions to!! Also this was really interesting. :)
ReplyDeleteNabila | Hot Town Cool Girl