It’s a new year! And we’ve made ALL the resolutions and ALL the goals. Because this year is going to be different and we’re going to keep going no matter what.

Until we don’t.

Maybe ALL the resolutions and ALL the goals you had in mind were a bit much. Maybe you were overenthusiastic during the week of doing nothing between Christmas and New Year’s. We have all done this. But just maybe a few of those goals are worth fighting for and it’s time to figure out how to keep going with them.

Reframing my to-do list

Look, my to-do list has gotten out of control many times. To the point that I wanted to hide from it. The idea of even checking off one item seemed undoable. And that’s when I reframe my to-do list so I can keep going.

Instead of trying to get anything done, making progress on items on the to-do list is the real goal. So I put a checkmark next to it if I make any kind of progress at all. Does that mean I actually am done with it? Nope. That item is gonna pop back up real soon. Maybe even as soon as tomorrow. But for now, I’m only looking for progress so I can keep going. Because nothing gets more in the way of doing things than a mental block. Just doing a little can start undoing that mental block.

Lowering my expectations

My expectations are impossibly high. There’s just no way I can do that when I’m trying to get a lot done so I can make reach my goals. And I find when I stick to those expectations less and less gets done.

So now I recognize the expectations I want to hit and I lower them by half. Honestly, half of my expectations is still a whole lot, so I readjust as necessary.

For example, I made hot chocolate bombs with my daughter for our holiday gift baskets this year. I stared at them after having finished. They looked a little sloppy and definitely something a toddler would have made. But I did most of the work. I thought about taking them apart and redoing the whole thing. I had no time though, and when I lowered my expectations from that holly, jolly Christmas I had in my mind, it was obvious they were done. And they were perfect enough. It was time to keep going instead of focusing on what they could have been. After all, it would take a lot of fun away from both me an my daughter if I was hyper-focused on what I didn’t do.

Talking to others

I find it the hardest to keep going when I isolate myself, which is of course what I naturally do. I start getting ideas that aren’t really doable for one person with a limited schedule, and I tend to get mad at myself when I don’t achieve the impossible.

But when I talk to others? Everything settles down into a more doable zone for me.

I have multiple people who will listen when I ask, “Do you think this is possible or am I trying to do too much again?” And they’ll happily tell me if I’m nuts. A little too happily if you ask me.

More importantly, they provide a check-in. If they tell me what I’m asking is possible, I might reply that it’s feeling really hard and impossible. So we can talk through what’s going on. Maybe it’s too much for now based on other factors. Or maybe I’m going about it in the hardest way possible and they can direct me to a much easier solution. That kind of feedback is priceless. It can take some weight off of my shoulders as I’m struggling and help me keep going.

Letting go

If I’m still struggling after trying everything else and it’s showing no signs of getting better, then I need to be real with myself. I need to figure out if this is really what I should be doing right now.

The first thing I do is look at why this is so important to me right now. There’s a good chance that it’s not all that important. I can probably keep going with my life just fine without that goal.

If I realize on the other hand that it is important to me, I look at whether it fits into my life right now. It probably doesn’t if I’m struggling that much with it. Or maybe it’s just a matter of not prioritizing something else so that this is easier to fit into my life.

When I’ve done all of this and have determined that this isn’t the right goal for me at this time, I immediately let it go. I don’t look back at it and don’t dwell on it in any way. I just simply drop everything related to it off of my schedule and take a deep breath.

And then I keep going with what does need to happen right now.

How do you make you achieve your new year goals and resolutions?