If there’s anything that I’ve become a self-proclaimed expert in, it’s setting goals. However, when it comes to yearly goals, it can feel quite overwhelming. Thinking about what you can accomplish in a year is a lot in one go, which is why I take my time. In fact, I’ve already set my 2024 goals (which I’ll share on the 1st January) but I’m often still debating them until mid-January. Here’s my guide on how to set your annual goals.
REVIEW THE CURRENT YEAR
Before you do anything, you need to first reflect on the previous year. In my reflections, not only do I recap the goals that I set back in January, but I also look at it from a monthly outlook. I pick out my highlights from each month as well as any challenges I faced. Because I review every week and month as it happens, this task doesn’t take as long as it used to. This is why I like to use an old notebook for this or the end of my 2023 diary. It’s not the neatest writing ever so I’m not ruining a brand-new notebook or diary!
OVERVIEW THE NEW YEAR
By this, I mean look at your year at a glance and see what plans you already have in place. Again, I like to brainstorm this and have a page per month. You might have holidays, weddings, birthdays, and work events in next year’s calendar already. For me, it’s usually planned travel and theatre trips. It’s also a good idea to think about health and beauty appointments you might need to make. For example, I need to get an eye test in February and my annual dentist check-up in June. I also get my nails done every 3 weeks as well as a haircut, dermaplaning and a massage once a quarter. This can help when it comes to setting your goals and your budget as some months might be busier or a higher spend than others. I try to plan my year before setting my goals too (as well as select my new planners for 2024).
CATEGORISE YOUR LIFE
Think of what roles you have in your life and areas you’d like to consider setting goals in. Mine are always business, blog, health/fitness, finances and personal/fun. You might have a category for relationships, family, work or home. They might change on a yearly basis or they might be fairly static like mine. I always add a personal/fun category because it’s important to include fun goals, such as hobbies, reading, or self-care.
JOT DOWN AS MANY IDEAS AS YOU WANT
Now is the time to use a page per category and jot down as many ideas under each one. They can be as big as you want but remember, you only have one year to accomplish them, not ten. For me, my ideas tend to follow but if you’re struggling, look at any previous goals you’ve set or go on social media and do a search for 2024 goals. A lot of influencers, bloggers and YouTubers have already set their goals and shared them online. Of course, don’t copy them but you can get inspired by them. You might see a goal that you can edit for your own life or it can trigger you to think of another goal.
HIGHLIGHT WHAT RESONATES THE MOST
Now you’ve got a long list for each category, it’s time to choose your favourites. I’m not going to tell you to only pick one goal per category so highlight which goals resonate the most for you. However, I would say to limit the amount of BIG goals you set and then set smaller goals or intentions underneath them. I tend to have one massive goal in each category (apart from personal) but then have smaller goals in each category too.
MAKE YOUR GOALS SMART
If you don’t know already, SMART goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. So your early goals will all be time-bound because you want to achieve them by 31st December, 2024. However, I’d say that making them measurable is the most important factor. How will you know if you’ve achieved each goal? You also want to push yourself but you want to achieve them. Be ambitious but don’t think you can get your 5 year goal within just one year. However, sometimes, you want to make goals based on feelings. For example, one of my 2023 goals was to work on a more positive money mindset. That’s not a SMART goal but it was more of an intention. I was able to work on it by regular progress and reviewing.
FOCUS ON TRACKING YOUR GOALS
This is probably the most important step in my guide on how to set your annual goals. The main reason most people don’t achieve their annual goals is because they don’t track them. If you’re making SMART goals, there should be some way to track them, whether it’s daily/weekly/monthly progress, a habit tracker or counting something. This will ensure that you’re making regular check-ins with your goal and can see the progress you’re making. I’m very visual so I have a habit tracker app on my phone and bullet journal spreads to make sure I stay on track.
BREAK DOWN YOUR BIG GOALS
The easiest way to reach your big goals is to break them down! You’re not going to lose 3 stone or save £10,000 overnight. That’s why you need to make action steps for them. Let’s take saving £10,000 for example. I’d break that down into what you want that £10k for. Is it for one emergency fund or is spread across multiple savings accounts? Then I’d break it down into how much you’d need to save every month. From that, you’ll know if you need to make more money or cut back on expenses in order to save that much every month.
GET THE BALL ROLLING NOW
For each goal you set, write down one action step that you can do right now. If it’s saving £10k, set up a savings account and deposit £10. If it’s losing 3 stone, make a meal plan for next week and do a healthy food shop. Want to work on your blog or social media more? Create a content plan or some graphics or edit a video ready to post. The idea is to choose just one small step that you can do now that takes just a few minutes. Then you can say you’re making progress already!
EDIT THEM IF YOU NEED TO AT A LATER DATE
Now your goals are set but what if you need to change them? It could be for a range of reasons. Maybe you’ve changed or lost your job. Perhaps you have to move across the country. Maybe you’re just not feeling that goal anymore or your priorities have changed. Change them! It’s okay to edit your goals, they’re not set in stone. I reset mine back in April because I wasn’t feeling some of them anymore. However, I’d give them a proper review at the end of every quarter. Sometimes, you might set a goal for the year but don’t want to focus on it until after the summer. Perhaps you could remove it from your annual goals and move it to your Q4 list.
My guide on how to set your annual goals is meant to be just that: a guide. This is the process that I’ve used for a good few years now and it works for me. Goal-setting is so personal so please take this list as a guide, not a checklist. It also seems excessive but goals are important to me. Work on them over the next week or even into January. I’d say my goals aren’t fully set until the end of January because it’s always a busy month!
If you enjoyed this guide on how to set your annual goals, I have lots of goals content on my blog already for you to take inspiration from. Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram and Twitter too.
