In the new year and new atmosphere, what kind of flag should we set to make it stand out?

At the beginning of the new year, many friends took out their long-prepared notebooks and prepared to set new goals.

Suddenly I realized that last year’s flag can still be used this year... Alas, the old goal was not achieved.

How can we effectively set up a Flag and implement it?

Clarify what you really want, and don’t blindly follow the crowd. We may have this experience: everyone is following Liu Genghong to do aerobics, so I set a flag: do aerobics; others are going skiing, so I also set a flag: learn to ski; everyone is improving themselves, so I set another flag: read books... To achieve the goal, you need to constantly overcome your own laziness. Those may just be goals that are impulsive. If you don’t really want to do them, there is no way to achieve them.

When setting goals, you can review the past year and summarize your gains and losses. You can also sort out your outlook on life and values, such as what kind of person do you want to be? What is your ideal life and lifestyle? What is your goal in life? Sorting out these contents will help you discover your real needs.

Next, list on paper the ten goals you want to achieve in the new year. Then cross out two goals that can be discarded, leaving eight. Cross out two more goals, leaving six... and so on. Finally, there is only one or two goals left, which you can consider as the goals you most want to achieve.

**Make an action plan. **Once you find the goal you want to achieve the most, the next step is to make a specific implementation plan. A goal is just a result, and its achievement still depends on little by little actions. You can use a notebook or some schedule management software. In short, you should break down your goals into specific tasks to be completed every day.

Take reading as an example. If your plan for the new year is to read, you need to break it down into the specific time to read every day and the minimum number of books to read every day. There must be a specific number that can be quantified. It is best to have a task that you can reach by jumping. You can also arrange rewards in the plan to increase motivation. For example, if you stick to the plan for a week, you can reward yourself with a big meal. If you stick to it for a month, you can reward yourself with a gift that you have been looking forward to for a long time.

Start taking action. Now that you have a goal and an action plan, the next step is the most important thing - executing it according to the plan. As the saying goes, "everything is difficult at the beginning", it is indeed not easy to change your usual behavior. In the early stages of implementation, all kinds of reasons will pop up in your mind to hinder the implementation of the plan: "It doesn't matter if I don't do it for one day", "I'm not feeling well today, forget it", "There is a conflict between things, so I have to give up", etc.

It is undeniable that there will be some unexpected incidents that interfere with your work, but what is more important is to stick to it. Even if you change the form and reduce the number, you must stick to it. The good news is that habits become second nature. When we follow the action plan and do the planned things at a fixed time every day, new habits will gradually form. This cycle is generally about 21 days.

Review regularly and make adjustments as appropriate. Making a specific action plan also makes it easier to review the completion status. When you first make a plan, you may have no experience, which may lead to an unreasonable or unrealistic plan. As the daily plan is implemented, you need to adjust it according to your own situation. For example, the initial plan is to read a book before going to bed every day, for one hour each time. But after implementation, it is found that it is difficult for people who have never had the habit of reading to concentrate on reading for such a long time, so you can adjust the initial action goal to reading 5 pages a day. After persisting for a period of time, you find that it is easy to do it, so you can adjust the plan to read 10 pages, 15 pages a day...gradually transition to reading for one hour a day.

On the contrary, if you find that the goal is too easy to achieve, increase the amount of tasks you do every day. In short, the goal should be challenging and within your ability, and it is most important to find one that suits you.

Finally, let us believe in the power of habit, believe in the power of time, achieve our goals, and become better ourselves in the new year!

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Author: Yu Yin, deputy editor-in-chief of Beijing China Science Popularization Center for Mental Health Promotion

Editor: Guru