Goals are achievable things. They aren’t wishes or dreams that you know are not attainable. An example of a goal is to pay off a certain amount of debt, to hand-make all your greeting cards for the year, to lose 10 pounds, or to learn how to knit. Some things that would be unattainable for me would be to lose 50 pounds, win $1,000,000 in the lottery (I don’t play,) or become President of the United States. Need some ideas? Here are 23 ideas to help create goals for 2023.
Goals should be given some thought. Don’t write five things down and think you are done. There is much more to it than that, especially if you plan to succeed.
Why set goals?
Goals should add value to your life. They must be of interest to you. They should improve your life or the life of others. Areas to improve include your home, your health, your family relationships, your finances, and your faith.
How to achieve your goals
Last year I set seven goals for the year. Ideally, if you are setting goals, you begin making progress in January so that you will have plenty of time to complete them. It’s pretty difficult if you wake up in October and decide it might be time to get going on reaching your goals for the year. Push yourself if needed. I ended October this year with only five of my ten goals completed, but I still hope to come very close.
Setting goals is easy. Achieving them is not always so easy. To keep you working toward your goals, they should be written down. View your list regularly, and be sure you are regularly making progress. Progress could be selecting a design for a remodel of your home. Or maybe you have signed up for lessons to knit. Start a project on January 1, which will take you all year to accomplish, like reading the Bible in a year. It is wise to share your goals with at least someone that can hold you accountable.
Here is a list of 23 ideas to help you create goals for 2023
- Learn something new, like how to knit, how to refinish furniture, a new craft, or something else you have always wanted to try.
- Take a college class for the fun of it or toward a degree.
- Learn a second language.
- Learn how to snow ski or water ski.
- Rescue a pet from an animal shelter.
- Donate blood two times or maybe five times. One donation can save up to three lives.
- Tend to health matters and (if age appropriate) have a colonoscopy.
- Another health matter that women tend to put off – is having a mammogram if they are due.
- Lose _____ pounds.
- Declutter your entire house. This can take a while so maybe tackle a different room each month.
- Read the Bible in one year.
- Attend a Bible study.
- Tackle a fear that you hold on to. Maybe try flying on an airplane for the first time. Other fears that can be tackled include going to the dentist or a fear of heights.
- Set a retirement date and stick to it.
- Take your mom (or dad) on a vacation while she/he can still travel.
- Purchase a motor home or tent trailer and begin traveling more frequently.
- Set up a budget that is realistic and includes savings for future purchases/home repairs/emergencies. And also be saving for retirement.
- Read ______ books.
- Plan and succeed at holding a surprise birthday party for someone you know that is turning 50, 60, 65, 70, 80, or older.
- Tackle a momentous dream you have always known you could do but have never tried. Try something like climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa or Half Dome in Yosemite National Park, California. Go on an African Safari or visit the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
- Mail a card or letter to someone each month. Ideas: your grandmother, a favorite aunt, the uncle that taught you how to ride a bike, the widow that sits near you in church. You can send this to the same person all year or to twelve different people. Make their day. And if you want, do it secretly and maybe tell them who you are in December.
- Visit an older relative this year that is getting more feeble and may not be around next year to visit. Don’t regret not seeing them one last time. Start making your plans today.
- Set an ambitious step goal. I use my FitBit to track my daily steps, which FitBit also shows as miles. Then I log those miles (or part of a mile) into an app called “Runs to Go.” You will need to set a miles goals. Example 1000 miles. Each day as you log the miles you accomplished for the day, it will count down. This allows you to track how far you still need to go quickly. You will also see your goal, goal date, miles earned the previous log-in, and the date of those miles. Example: Current Goal: 1000.0 miles. Run Goal Date: December 31, 2022. Last run: 2.6 miles. Last run date: December 26, 2022. Plus, on the top, the app shows the miles to go. I am not actually running my miles. I walk them, and I count every step I take each day.
Write down your list, even if it is only 2 or 3. Working toward a goal is a good thing. I’m not promising you will complete them all. I have a goal that I will be trying to reach this year for the 5th year in a row. Will I succeed? I hope so. No more excuses. I know I can do it. I know in 2022, I could have done it, but as usual, things happened, and I didn’t. Like I said, no more excuses. You and I can do this.
Have you set goals in the past? Have you succeeded? Let me know in the comments below. We can encourage each other. That is why I post them every year. I am making myself accountable to you and everyone else that follows me. There will be updates every month. I challenge you to do the same. Accept my challenge and accomplish some things this year that you didn’t think you could.
