4 Goals To Set For 2023

By Siew Ching

Make 2023 the year things happen for you!

With the new year coming very soon, there’s only one more thing to do: Set your goals for 2023 and make it the year of greatness. But there are goals.. and then there are GOALS. Sure we all want to be healthier or lose weight come the new year but to set a proper goal for this, you need to be more specific on how you want to be healthier or how much weight you plan to lose and by end. Or maybe 2023 is the year for positive changes in your life. Rather than just saying you want to be more positive in 2023, make it more specific by noting how you plan to do this and what it is that will help you think more positively.

Not too sure where to start? There are a few categories you can focus on when it comes to goals but the essential ones are health, financial, career development, and personal goals. Think of the things you want to achieve most in each category – for example, lose 10kg in health, work towards saving for a house in finance, pick up content development for development, and sleep more for personal goals. Why just four? Simply because you’re more likely to achieve them rather than the 10 goals you think you want to achieve.

Here are some goals I plan to set for 2023. You can take cues from them!

#1 My Health Goal: Lose more body fat, build more muscles
I’m all about a healthier lifestyle for 2023 but my real goal is to build more muscles and lose the extra fat. And because I am focused on what I want to achieve, I can then pinpoint the kind of activity I need to do to get there. For example, in my quest to lose more body fat, I know I need to up my cardio workouts so more runs and swims, please! But to contrast that I also need to build more muscles and cardio alone isn’t going to help me achieve that so I’ve complimented my workout routine with reformer pilates to help build leaner muscles.

What about you? What kind of health are you aiming for by the end of 2023? If 2022 was a stressful year for you, maybe it’s time to wind down in 2023 with more mindfulness via activities like yoga and meditation. Or perhaps you just want to hit the outdoors more for 2023 having been cooped up for most of the pandemic? Consider taking the 1000 Hours Outside challenge, a movement that was first started to help parents reduce screen time for kids but now is embraced by all ages to engage with nature more.

#2 My Financial Goal: Be more mindful of my spending
I have a habit of clicking things into my cart… and if I am feeling particularly bored that day or down, I press checkout. Which says a lot about my spending, especially online: I am an emotional shopper. A lot of the things I’ve bought, I don’t really need them. And if I only took an extra day to properly think them through, I wouldn’t press checkout so often and would be a lot richer in 2022.

For 2023, I am going to do just that – buy things that I really, REALLY need. Sure, it’s nice to have a new pair of shoes but do I really need the extra pair? And who doesn’t find themselves succumbing to flash sales and 1.1, 2.2, 3.3 deals! It is going to take a lot of willpower but experts say to curb emotional spending, I can try these tips: Figure out my emotional triggers (I tend to shop when I feel like I’ve earned it so to stop this, I am going to save the money instead so maybe I can treat myself to something bigger that will benefit me in the long run); consider waiting a week before buying the item I’ve been eyeing (probably won’t even need it by then!), delete shopping apps, and review my budget every week to see how much I’ve really spent!

Sounds like a goal you want for 2023? Try these tips with me!

#3 My Career Development Goal: More ownership over my work
Hands up if you are guilty of this: You rush through your submission because you are busy chasing deadlines. That’s me as a freelancer writer, and I am pretty sure you too can relate if you have a 9-to-5. Between Zoom meetings and physical ones, emails and WhatsApp messages to reply, it can be hard to find that solid two to three hours block per day to do nothing but just concentrate on work. We get disrupted all the time… and all that disruption can really affect your concentration and ultimately, the quality of your work.

Think about it: Would you produce better quality work if you had 45 minutes uninterrupted time to concentrate on the task or three hours with interruptions here and there? I am willing to bet the former will give you the end result you’re after. By more ownership over your work here, I mean more control on how you want to work. Get rid of the distraction (switch off that phone!) and find a conducive place to work where you are not likely to be interrupted. Or make it a habit to really concentrate on work during a certain time in your workday – which means no replying to emails or messages but just 100% focus on getting the job done.

#4 My Personal Goal: Learn a new recipe every month!
I love to cook… and I want to cook better for 2023. The goal is really simple and to achieve it, I want to learn how to cook more things! So I plan to learn a new recipe every month, repeat it and hopefully master it.

The underlying message is to learn something new and be better at it, which is what a lot of us want as a personal goal: To be better at something we enjoy. Maybe you want to read more. Your personal goal can be to read 30 books for 2023, which is being “better” at reading. Or you’ve always loved languages and want to learn Mandarin. It can even be something as simple as you really loving your me time and so you want to rest and relax more! The important thing is that this goal will help you become a better person, whatever that means to you!

Tell us what goals you plan to achieve for 2023 on Twitter @Graduan.

Photo by Clemens van Lay on Unsplash.

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