It’ll be here before you know it. A whole new year!

While New Year’s Eve will definitely look and feel different this year, you can count on a few things. A countdown, some bubbly and a resolution. That last one can be a bit tricky. You may not have stuck to this year’s resolution – but that’s okay. 2020 has been anything but normal.

According to a study by the University of Scranton only about 8 per cent of people who set New Year’s resolutions actually achieve them. There are lots of reasons for this. Our resolutions can be too complicated, we just do it for the sake of saying it, or we don’t spring into action on our goals.

Did you set a goal for 2020? The good news is that there are lots of ways you can achieve it before the end of the year! And we have some tips to help.

Make It Visual
Visualizing your goal is a great way to work towards accomplishing it. If it’s just an idea in your head, it can be very hard to track your progress and motivate yourself to keep going. Create a ‘vision board’ with images that will motivate or inspire you to move towards your goal. Try cutting out pictures from a magazine or go online and make it digital with something like Pinterest.

Make Sure It’s Realistic, Specific and Measurable
It’s great to think big. Being ambitious is a good thing! But it’s also important to be realistic about your resolution, especially with a month left to reach it.

An unrealistic goal can really kill your motivation so think small and specific. What are things that are practical and you know you can work towards. Instead of becoming a professional bodybuilder, why not work on being able to bench press 130 pounds? Instead of creating a multimillion-dollar company, try to make at least $1,000 with your side hustle – make sure to set a number, whatever that may be. Just because a goal is smaller, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be proud of accomplishing it.

Share Your Goal
Telling friends and family about your goal is a great way to hold yourself accountable and gain your own personal cheer squad! You can keep it within your inner circle or, if you’re comfortable with it, share your goal on social media.

This will allow you to get the support you need while you’re making progress, as well as help get you back on track when you stumble along the way. You’ll be surprised how many people will cheer you on when you hit milestones and will be there to help you when you want to give up.

Make A Plan
Whether your goal is big or small – you need a plan. People often give up on goals before they even get started because it can seem too overwhelming. Breaking things up into a plan can help you create a clear path to success. Write it down on paper or try using a goal tracking app.

You should also have an end date in mind. This will help you break your plan into daily, weekly or monthly goals. Instead of saying ‘in a few years’ or ‘sometime next year’, set a date so you know your timeline.

Pat Yourself On The Back
No matter how you’re tracking your progress – celebrate it! Each small step is one move closer towards achieving your goal. Just be sure your chosen celebration doesn’t set you back.

Don’t make celebrating a reward for following your plan perfectly. Setbacks or having to readjust certain elements of your plan is normal and shouldn’t stop you from recognizing your success. That’s why it’s so important that when you do make some headway, you should be proud and celebrate.

The new year is almost here but you still have time to cross those resolutions off of your list. With the help of these tips, we hope you’ll be ringing in 2021 ready to set new goals for yourself and keep using these tips to achieve them.