The beginning of each year is often a time we see ourselves looking to set big goals - which is fine! That's great! Take advantage of your motivation, and set a big goal.
But even more important than a goal is a PLAN. If you don't have a plan, the goal is generally quite worthless. #harshreality
So, whatever your goal is - eat better, work out consistently, save money, spend more time with family , connect more often with friends, read more books, travel more - take some time to make a plan.
Write down the goal, and then write down various ways you can work toward it. Brainstorm a variety of things until you run out of ideas. There are many possible roads to any destination, after all.
Questions you can ask yourself to create this list:
What are some habits you need to start or stop?
What will trigger you to start new ones?
What would motivate you to stop bad ones?
What would the "bare minimum" of success look like?
What is a tiny action step you could take daily to get started?
What is the MAIN reason you even have this goal? (why!)
After you've run out of ideas, you now have a roadmap of MANY possible routes to your goal. Pick the most important or the smallest daily action you can take toward that goal, and get going.
Set up a plan to check in regularly on your progress. Depending on the goal, it might make sense to come back to your roadmap monthly, weekly, or even daily.
When you get off track, sit down with it again, and work on new future strategies to keep them on the track you're laying out now.
There's no ONE WAY to reach your goal, but you must spend time figuring out the BEST WAY for YOU. And then revisit that plan often.