Are you accomplishing your goals? While we often set goals as part of a New Year’s resolution, any time of year is a good time to establish life priorities, make new goals, or check-up on goals you’ve set. Take small steps to change your life.
Making goals you can achieve
Disappointments and derailments happen, when you’re working toward your goals. We often fall short of the mark we’ve set because our goals are lofty, and we ask too much of ourselves in too short a period of time. We are unrealistic. So, we shouldn’t really be surprised when things don’t quite work out as we hoped, should we?
The neuroscience of behavior change evaluates what it takes to break old habits and form new ones. The scientific literature shows we should expect detours along the way when learning a new habit.
The trick to getting where we want to go requires that we be realistic about what we want to accomplish and the timeframe we give ourselves to accomplish it.
Taking small steps is the first step toward setting goals you can accomplish and filling your life with happiness.
It is also critical to recognize and accept that the path will be crooked at times, with detours along the way. Instead of feeling badly, and beating ourselves up (often for days or even longer), when a roadblock happens, how about trying something new?
Since you’ve already accepted that these moments will occur, try this: Acknowledge the derailment or detour, make the best of it, and see if you can identify whether something specific is triggering it so you can plan around or avoid it in the future. (This applies to any goal you have set for yourself.) Then, let go so you can move on. Tomorrow, or even the next hour, is literally another chance to find your way back to your plan.
Take small steps

Take Small Steps to greater well-being and the life you want.
Whether it’s the beginning of the year or mid-year, it’s never too late to start focusing on your goals and creating new habits.
Imagine December 31st and feeling grateful and happy about what you’ve learned about yourself and the progress you’ve made on your goals and direction you’ve set for yourself.
These are 12 small steps you can take to change your life so you feel good, both physically and mentally. Small steps are manageable and allow you to celebrate progress. Success leads to more success. Now let’s get started on taking small steps!
- Reduce stress and manage it better.
- Make nutrition and physical activity a priority.
- Get enough sleep.
- Get rid of stress by relaxing your mind and body.
- Breathe.
- Take Time to Do “Nothing”
- Celebrate your unique gifts.
- Take time to do things that make you happy.
- Say yes to the life you have by living in the present moment.
- Don’t smoke.
- Connect to a higher purpose by making a difference.
- Everything in moderation.