Setting Your Goals for the New Year

Are you having a hard time determining your goals for 2026?  Have you had difficulty in the past keeping up with your New Years resolutions?  We’ve got you covered with 10 positive goals and tips on how to stick with them.

1. Start a new hobby.  Making time for things that you enjoy can help you relax and feel more fulfilled.  Some popular examples include painting, knitting, baking, yoga, and kickboxing.
2. Keep your space organized.  Staying organized can eliminate stress and make it easier to focus on the tasks at hand.  Regardless of whether you work from home or in an office building, good organization can also improve productivity.  Our tip is to take some time each day (or set a specific time each week) to clean and organize your home/workspace.
3. Volunteer some of your time.  Enrich your life by volunteering at your local animal shelter, homeless shelter, retirement home, or library.  Making a difference in your community can positively affect personal and professional growth, and you may even make new friends in the process.
4. Read more often.  Reading is a great way to stimulate your mind, improves your vocabulary, and expands your knowledge base.  It can be very beneficial to incorporate even small doses of reading into your daily routine.  Don’t like reading books?  No problem!  Take some time each day to read online articles or newspapers.
5. Get better sleep.  Your sleeping habits can have a large impact on your personal life and career.  If you struggle with getting the recommended amount of sleep, we recommend trying to go to bed earlier each night, starting gradually, until you reach your desired bedtime.  Try to avoid looking at bright screens late at night or having caffeine late in the day.
6. Practice good eating and drinking habits.  Staying hydrated and getting enough nutrients is critical for staying energized and boosting productivity.  Pro tips: Don’t skip breakfast.  Instead of having a second cup of coffee, drink a glass of water.  Add lemon for better digestion and other benefits.
7. Learn something new.  Learning truly is a constant process, regardless of whether you are still in school.  Making an effort to learn something new everyday can help expand your personal knowledge and may even lead to a new talent or interest.  Some ways you can do this include attending lectures, reading, or engaging in conversations with others.
8. Improve your time management skills.  Many of us struggle with effective time management, but improving these skills can be beneficial to you regardless of your career path.  Setting alarms earlier to give yourself extra time before appointments or meetings can reduce stress.  If you have a large amount of tasks that you need to complete throughout the day, you can try to break your day into smaller time blocks then plan a specific amount of work you want to complete in each section of time.
9. Take a break from social media.  Even though social media has become a necessary tool for communication, it can be healthy to take a hiatus from it.  Aside from being a distraction from work or important tasks, doom-scrolling on social media can contribute to negativity in your life and can take up free time that you may want to spend doing other things.  Our tip is to track and limit your overall screen time per day/week.
10. Practice gratitude.  Focus on the good things in your life rather than the negative.  By embracing a positive mentality, you may feel more inspired overall.  Practicing gratitude can be as simple as telling a friend, family member, or colleague that you appreciate them, or writing down a few things you are grateful for each day (no matter how small).  You may also opt to create a gratitude jar by filling a jar with notes of positive experiences or things you are thankful for throughout the week.