Where Do I Start?

My friend Micaeh Tice is joining us to start the year off! She’s my former personal trainer that got me started in running to…well…the mailbox and back. Years ago, she helped me work my way up to my first half marathon. Now Micaeh is a wellness coach and business owner. I asked her to share some encouragement to help start the year off. She’s helping us start full of grace for ourselves.

 

 January is here. The time of year when everyone around you is sharing their word for the year, the goals they plan to tackle, and are feeling hopeful for what the New Year will bring.

Are you ready to take on a New Year too, or are you still asking yourself…“Where do I even start?” 

Maybe you do believe there’s hope and you want to accomplish some things in 2021, but you’re already feeling behind, discouraged, overwhelmed, or stuck.

Let me first encourage you with this: It’s okay if you haven’t started yet!

Instead of choosing to dwell on what you’re not doing, take some time to think about what might be holding you back and what you really want. 

Personally, my biggest struggle when it comes to goal setting is being a natural “go-getter”. I think I look forward to New Year’s goal-setting more than Christmas! The down-side to that is my tendency to over-commit. I want to do everything under the sun and say “yes” to every challenge that comes my way.

Knowing that about myself is what helps me set realistic and achievable goals. I start by dreaming all the dreams and writing down all the goals. I keep most of them to myself, then re-evaluate them throughout the month of January. I narrow in on what’s most important to me and remove what starts to feel meaningless or trivial.

I usually have a solid set of goals by the time February rolls around. I then review them often, both weekly and monthly, and am always open to changing up my strategy and setting new goals.

That may be you, or you may be struggling with an entirely different obstacle. You might lean toward perfection, feeling as if there’s no point to set goals if you’re going to fail regardless. You might value authenticity, not wanting to get caught up in the “hype”. Or you might be in a place where you’re not sure what you want.

If you can first identify what’s holding you back, it will be much easier to move forward.

Here are a few steps to get you thinking and to help you “just start”. Newton’s first law of motion states that “an object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion unless acted upon by unbalanced force”. We can use that law to our advantage by committing to take that first step – creating that unbalanced force by getting ourselves moving.

Reflect: Ask yourself some questions about this past year.

– What wins can you celebrate?

– What lessons did you learn?

– If you met some goals last year, what helped you succeed?

-If there’s a goal you didn’t meet, why do you think you didn’t meet it? Did you see any small progress?

Look inward. Shut off the noise around you. You can be inspired by others and gather new ideas, but at the end of the day it’s important to stay true to who you are and what you want.

-What do you value most?

– What do you enjoy doing?

– Spend some time journaling or praying. Remind yourself that you are a human being and what you “do” is not what defines you.

Dream. Close your eyes and picture your ideal life a year or two from now.

– What are you doing for fun? Where are you going on vacation, if at all?

– How are you interacting with others and developing your relationships?

– How are others experiencing you?

-How are you taking care of your body? How do you feel?

– What types of projects are you working on or what other contributions are you making?

– How are you spending your time?

Visualize – Once you have a “picture” in your head, translate that into a vision board, phrase, or word.

– Vision boards are great for those who are visual. They are a roadmap, a visual representation of your dreams, and the character you hope to develop.

– Use a white poster board, print some pictures, tear them out of magazines, add quotes or scriptures, and use it to start setting a few goals, or action steps, to make it happen.

Focus on a “theme” – If a vision board feels overwhelming, or if you want to add to it, spend time coming up with a word, phrase, or mantra.

– Is there one word that seems to capture the direction you’d like to go this year or the growth you’d like to see?

– Is there a phrase that sticks out to you? Something like “just show up”, no excuses”, or “be present”?

– If you want to narrow it down even further, break it down into monthly categories. Using the phrase “just show up”, you could aim to “just show up” for your marriage in January, your friendships in February, yourself (self-care) in March, your clients (professional development) in April, and so on.

Looking at an entire year in advance can feel daunting, especially when we can’t see around the corner or have been disappointed by setting and failing to reach goals in the past. 

By reverse-engineering your dreams and vision, you can break them down into small steps (achievable goals and daily habits) that will help you be successful.

What steps will you take monthly, weekly, daily? Stay focused on those small steps, and use your vision to remind you of why you’re taking them in the first place. Always circle back to your values, what’s most important to you, and the growth you’d really like to see in yourself this year. 

There’s no point in setting goals or creating new habits that don’t matter – have fun with them!

 

You can find more from Micaeh on Instagram @micaeh.tice