Many of us made resolutions at New Years, or are trying to set goals for the year. Here to help you decide which goals to pursue and which to lose is Career Coach Sarah Vermunt.

We’re starting the year in the middle of a global pandemic so we need to be more intentional about our goal setting so we don’t risk burnout. That means 2 things:

1. Chasing only a few goals that matter most to you (one goal you actually feel excited about is better than five flimsy half-hearted ones)
2. Making sure your goals are realistic and actually doable. (Realistic isn’t exactly a sexy word, but it’ll help you make sure you can actually achieve your goals instead of feeling like an epic loser for missing the mark.)

Avoiding “Ambition Amnesia”

• It’s when you keep setting the same kind of goals year after year and they always end up leaving you feeling empty and disappointed.
• For example, I used to set goals that were about impressing people and (big surprise) even when I achieved those goals it never felt very satisfying.
• Copycat goals also suck. E.g. “Well everybody else seems to want to lose 10 lbs and get a promotion so I guess I should do those things too.”
• And discover the why behind your goal matters. Ask yourself, why do I want this? If the answer is compelling (it feels good), go for it. If not, don’t.

“Goal Pruning” and Why We Should Do It

When there’s too much going on and the plant is growing wildly in many directions it stresses the plant out. We’re like that too! In order to flourish (like the plant), you have to decide which goals to keep, tweak, or toss.

Keep it if the goal makes you excited. Tweak it if something about it feels off like maybe the timeline is too short. Toss it if it doesn’t feel meaningful E.g. — Maybe you don’t actually want the weight loss or the promotion; maybe you want to spend more time in nature, or to start writing.

Get Started To Discovering Your New Year Goals

I made a free worksheet to help people do this at Careergasm.

Bottom line: if there’s a heaviness to some of your goals it means you need to tweak or toss them. This makes space for goals that are more in alignment with what you actually want.