New Years is by far one of my favorite holidays. The beginning of the New Year is filled with an overwhelming amount of excitement, hope and reflection. For a period of time people believe in themselves again. People believe in their potential and they believe that they can make positive changes in their life. During this time, people are willing to leave everything bad behind and embrace new and positive things.
A dream of mine is for these feelings to last forever. Unfortunately, people eventually go back to their old ways, and they sit around and wait for the next New Year to come around so that they try it all over again.
But why? I don’t have an answer for that but I have an idea. During the New Year, people talk about what they want to do, and that is it. Talking about change does not make change happen!
Overtime, I have found writing out my goals to be very beneficial. Almost every goal that I have written down has been achieved.
When writing down your goals it is important to make sure that they are SMART and they are accompanied by action items. Please see below what a SMART goal is:
Specific – Your goal should not be broad it should be very specific.
Measurable – You should be able to measure your progress towards your goal.
Attainable – Your goal should be possible to attain.
Realistic/Relevant – You should be able to achieve your goal. I think it is very important to have faith in yourself, but at the same time it is also important to be real with yourself!
Timely- Make you have a time frame set to achieve your goals.
I challenge everyone to write down your goals and action items for 2016! Write them down, watch them happen and KILL 2016!I have a journal where I write down everything, but if you’re not about that journal life write them down in your phone.
Here are my goals and action items for the first half of 2016 (my life will be drastically different after graduation which will call for a new set of goals):
Theme for 2016: Do Right and Kill Everything
1. Keep cumulative GPA above 3.5 and maintain necessary grades to receive my masters degree
- Follow along with text book reading as material is taught in class
- Practice information as it is taught instead of waiting until a week before the exam
- Go to office ours when I have questions
2. Lose 15 pounds by graduation (look sexy as hell in my graduation dress)
- Exercise at least 4 time per week
- Meal prep every Sunday for the week
- I will be using the Advice of Kalyn Flournoy, check out her post here.
3. Actively manage money and maintain budget
- Check bank accounts every morning
- Pay all bills on time
- Create budget using Mint.com (I will be do a post on this once I fully figure out the system)
4. Have a decent sized fro under my graduation cap
- I will be doing Page’s 6 month protective styling challenge
5. Trust God
- Read my bible everyday
6. Self-Educate
- Read three books outside of class on various topics (money management, race, etc)
Here are my personal goals, please share yours with me!
By Khadija Bingham
