Hands up if you’re seeing emails and posts everywhere about ‘new year, new you?’ Or ‘new year, old you?’ Or ‘have you set your goals for this year yet?’
They’re everywhere. And for good reason, as January heralds the start of a new month and a new year and it’s a good time to look at how things have gone, think about what you want and make plans for them to happen.
New Year, New Goals — And Then Life Happens
Now put your hands up if you made goals, and then last week life happened. If you’re in the UK, you’ve probably been impacted in some way by Storm Goretti, maybe you’ve been hit by a cold following the back to work/school routine, or simply life has just happened.
I strained my ankle in Berlin over new year and so I have yet to do a Parkrun (though the weather has also meant that the first two Saturdays of the year, my local Parkrun has been cancelled) and my phrase this year is ‘Parkrun and Pilates’. We’re 12 days in and I’ve not done a Parkrun yet. And in all likelihood, won’t this coming weekend either.
When Motivation Meets Reality
When you’re keen to make some changes, and you’re immediately hit with a brick wall, it can be tough to get the enthusiasm to keep going. It’s cold, the pretty decorations and lights have been put away, it’s weeks until payday and you just want to hibernate and not emerge until spring!
How to Keep Going When Enthusiasm Fades
If this sounds like you, then you’re not alone and I have some tips to help you:
- Think about why you wanted to make the changes or set the goals and when you’re ready to resume, pick them back up.
- What are you able to do? If you don’t want to go running when it’s cold and icy outside, can you put on You-Tube and do a class that way?
- Can you think of a mini-goal that you can do, and start that instead?
- If motivation has completely gone, can you do something for 5 minutes? Set a timer, do it for that amount of time and then either keep going as you’ve started, or stop, but know that you’ve done something.
- Plan something to look forward to. I’ve booked a ‘Paint and Sip’ night out at the end of January which will not only get me out of the house, but be something fun to do.
- Take it one day at a time and when you’re feeling more energised, start then.
- Remember there’s no pressure on you to do anything.
There’s No Rush — Your Goals Will Wait
Hopefully this helps with some of the feelings of guilt or failure you may be experiencing. And you’re not failing. If you’ve had a really busy Christmas and New Year period, the last thing you may want to do is get started on goal setting, so take some time, get back into a routine that works for you and come back to goals when you’re feeling more energised and when the time is right for you.
And if you want some help with goal setting in 2026, perhaps you have no idea where to start, or you have the goal in mind but now idea how you’ll get there, then reach out, I’d love to help you.