Empowered Into the New Year: Crafting Vision and Setting Goals for 2024

Happy New Year! I hope the first few days of 2024 were off to a good start.

Every year around New Year’s Eve I write down my vision and goals for the upcoming year. At first, I felt like an imposter because I was still in high school when I started this tradition and some of the goals were plain and predictable such as “find a boyfriend” or “pass physics”. However, the older I got, the more clear, realistic and attainable my goals became. Over time, I have developed a system for myself on how to go about this process, which I aim to share with you in this post. I even created a Vision & Goal Planner 2024 Canvas for you to use, which you can download here.

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Step 1: Reflection

The first step in the process is to reflect on the previous year. By taking a look at the past, reflecting on achievements, challenges, and lessons learned we take stock of where we’re at in life. Feel free to take a look at my previous blog post on reflection before beginning to set out goals.

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Step 2: Vision

That being said, having a rough vision on where you see yourself headed is generally advised when it comes to goal setting. It is not necessary to have all the details mapped out, many roads lead to Rome. Yet, while there are multiple ways to achieve a result, having a vision about where you want to be in your career, health, relationships, personal development, etc. prompts you to think about what you truly want and encourages you to plan the steps needed to achieve those goals.

If you don’t know exactly where you’re going, how will you know when you get there?

Steve Maraboli

I genuinely believe in the law of attraction. Focusing on what you want helps attract it into your life. Having a vision is a way to align your energy with your desires. So, if your vision is blurry and you yearn to clean your lens for some clarity and focus, a proper vision board might be of help. This can be done on a cardboard or canvas by cutting out images from magazines, or you can create one digitally via Pinterest or Canvas or even in your notes app (copy & paste images). A vision board can serve as a positive reminder of what you want to bring into your life. It represents a form of motivation and inspiration throughout the year. Feel free to take a look at my vision board on Pinterest for reference.

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Step 3: Goal Setting

We have all been there: we begin a new year with a long list of resolutions full of hope and good intentions, yet often barely making it through January with the goals we set out for ourselves. In order to avoid this behavior, and ensure consistency & discipline, the most crucial step is the approach on how we set these goals.

A concept that works pretty well for me, both professionally and personally, is SMART goals. Introduced to me by one of my former managers, this method remains solid and actionable. Setting SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) goals ensures that an aspiration is formed from a vision into micro-steps. Hence, the likelihood of the goal to be achieved increases significantly.

EXAMPLE:

Let’s use a simple example. A goal, that a lot of us seem to have in common based on my Goodreads is: “I want to read more in 2024.”

But rather than just making the resolution to “read more” in the new year, put the books you received for Christmas on your nightstand and order two more on Amazon and then forget about it all by March, what you could do instead with the help of the SMART method is the following:

“I want to increase my reading goal to 24 (specific & measurable), within the next 12 months by reading 2 books a month (achievable and time-bound), read 12 fiction and 12 non-fiction books with at least 6 books written by BIPOC authors because I want to expose myself to different cultures, beliefs, and other social identities (relevant). I will utilize Goodreads and join their 2024 Reading Challenge to keep track of my progress.“

Do you notice the difference? The concept of SMART Goals is supposed to empower you to become more concrete and precise about your desired outcomes and ideally enable you to hold yourself accountable. The framework is a tool to support you along the journey of achieving your ambitions.

Yet, I also strongly believe in FUN goals – flexible, uplifting and numberless. Life happens, things change, goals shift (flexible). Having ambitions and trying to improve yourself is a good thing (uplifting) yet if you’re not enjoying the overall process then there is no need to desperately hold on to a goal for the sake of it. Life won’t be radically different if you have only read 29 instead of 30 books or only lost 4kg instead of 5kg (numberless), the overall idea is to get started with something and stick to it.

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Step 4: Ensuring Success

The hardest part is showing up. And while I certainly don’t want to sound like a self-help guru, the truth is: if it was easy, everyone would do it. Staying motivated and committed to your goals throughout the year(s) is hard. I certainly have slacked and indulged and lost track or interest in some of the goals I set (I once had a goal of wanting to be married with children at age 30 haha).

Also keep in mind that other people’s vision and goals might look different from yours as we all walk our own paths and start our routes at entirely different points. Therefore always remember: Comparison is the thief of joy. (This is mainly a reminder for myself because I tend to struggle with this too).

But – and I’m sure it’s the same for you – whenever I was truly committed to something, I have almost always achieved my aspirations. And that is because in these instances I would have a strategy in place that I could fall back on when times got rough and I lacked motivation and commitment. If we don’t know have a strategy to rely on, we lose track of our goals and fail. A strategy is not your goals, aspirations, values and visions. A strategy is how you position yourself to get to the goals and aspirations you strive for.

Yet, sometimes life gets in the way: obstacles and hurdles blocking our path, hindering us to see clearly, challenging our resilience and commitment. That’s why proper time management, accountability, and seeking support should be included in your personal strategy. I consider them to be the top three main drivers for achieving your goals. Hence, it’s important to set realistic and attainable goals that are not entirely out of reach but that also serve as a general direction not a rule book.

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Step 5: Goal Setting Canvas – Yearly Planner

That’s why I want to share my personal canvas for vision & goal setting with you. You can download the whole version here. Essentially it is a practical tool in the form of a calendar; a yearly goal planner that breaks down your goals into micro-steps you can take each month to check off your list. It’s a functional that can be applied to anyone.

The structure is as follows:

1. The first part of the canvas is to break down your vision into the following 9 categories and write down 3 goals for each (can also be less or more):

• FINANCE
• HEALTH
• FAMILY
• FRIENDS/ SOCIAL
• BUSINESS/CAREER
• LOVE
• PERSONAL GROWTH
• SELF-CARE

2. The second part is about prioritizing: break down these overall goals into monthly steps and weekly to-do’s. For this, you can use the planner:

EXAMPLE

One of my goals for 2024 is to improve my Spanish. So, I decided that I want to spend 3 months this year in a Spanish-speaking country and practice 15 minutes daily on Duolingo for 6 months. By the end of the year I would like to take a test to assess my level and see whether I moved from level A1 to A2. Below is an example of how I broke down my goal into the canvas for January:

What are some the of goals you have set out for yourself? Let me know in the comments section below.

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All in all, I hope you found this post useful in order to kick-off the new year well-equipped and empowered. In order to attract the things you desire, you need to be clear on what it is you want. The five steps of reflection, vision, goal setting, ensuring success as well as the canvas are a way to structure a bigger picture into actionable steps. So whether you’re looking to learn a new skill, improve a language, create healthier habits or simply cook a new dish per month – I encourage you to take action and to start by setting your goals for the new year.

I’m excited for us to improve and become better version of ourselves together and I’d like to express my genuine support for your journey ahead. I’ll be your cheerleader on the sidelines, as well as your coach if need be or somebody you can vent to when required. I wish you all the best, lots of success, fun, joy, growth and adventures for 2024 and that you achieve your goals while creating the kind of happy life that suits you.

Sincerely, The Blonde Yeti