End of year countdown

Welcome to September! And let me stop you right there - what was your first thought when you read the word September? Was it “Oh my, how did we get there? This year passed so quickly!” or “Amazing! Still 4 months left to enjoy this year to the fullest. Is there anything I still want to work on and how could I start?”

I will explore the latter option with you. 🙂

There are for sure scientific and psychological reasons for jumping to “panic mode” first when September starts, but I don’t want to spend too much time talking about scientific evidence here. I want to talk about you and how you can make the best out of the four months ahead.

Hard facts

Let me remind you that four months are actually one third of a year, so there’s still plenty of time to try out something new, work on your goals, or maybe stop doing a particular activity or habit that doesn’t do you any good.

Also, it’s never too late to start getting to know yourself better or finally making your wellbeing a priority. You deserve it. And imagine that: what if achieving a goal by the end of the year wouldn’t even be the goal and simply the fact of starting the work and enjoying the process? Let’s go!

Where to start

Do you already have a list of “SMART” goals and are simply procrastinating? Then you can continue reading the next step and skip this paragraph.

If you feel overwhelmed and don’t know where to start, then don’t despair. I’ve got you. I suggest you start with picking an area of your life that needs more of your attention. Is it your work/career, (physical) health, relationships, social life or maybe your finances?

Once you picked your area you want to put your focus on for the next few months, think of something Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-based. This will be your SMART goal. An example would be "By the end of the year, I want to be more mindful about how I treat myself and others. I will accomplish this goal by having a morning routine that involves meditation and the expression of gratitude."

Check in

After you’ve defined your SMART goal, take a moment and look at it. How does it make you feel when you think of working on this goal? Does it spark joy? Do you feel excited? Or maybe scared? Imagine you’ve accomplished it already - what would change? How would you feel? And write all of that down as well.

The more you familiarize yourself with the sensation of how your life will look once you’ve reached your goal, the more likely it is that you will reach it. Your brain doesn’t necessarily make a difference between reality and wishful thinking. This doesn’t necessarily mean “fake it until you make it”, but rather “fake it until you become it” (Amy Cuddy’s words, not mine ;) ).

YOU can do it!

Dig deeper into how your everyday life would be like if you reached your goal. How would you start your day (or finish it)? What would that new version of you eat, what would she dress like and how would she behave?

I challenge you to live your life for one day from that new perspective.

Challenge accepted?

Little sneak peek: in my next blog article, I will dig deeper into how to make a habit stick and make the new version of yourself become reality.