Happy New Year, Boss! I hope you’ve arrived at a place where the New Year doesn’t incite overwhelm in your spirit. The New Year can be viewed as a marker to track history and growth – it’s not something to stress about. If you had goals you didn’t attain before 2024, reflect on your effort and be proud of the work you put in! We will no longer discredit our progress. 

Neglecting to reflect on the progress of our journeys makes it harder to find the endurance to keep striving. Even if last year was rough, analyzing the things that brought you joy, pain, success and failure will help your goal-setting efforts and unveil strategic pivots that will magnetize accomplishments in your life. 

Carry Over Unaccomplished Goals

As you carry over unaccomplished goals, take a moment to assess their relevance in your present life. Should this still be a goal for you? If so, think about the obstacles that caused you not to reach it. Was it a lack of time or motivation, an overburdened schedule, distractions or unforeseen life events? Identifying some root causes will allow you to address them on a high level. This is the time to take on a bird’s eye view of your business or goal-setting to reveal things you may have missed while you were occupied doing the work. 

Set New Goals

Once you’ve had time to assess the previous year, it’s time to write new goals. Habakkuk 2:2 says, “Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables…” I like to write an outline of yearly goals and then dive deeper when I reach a new quarter. You must do what works for you and experiment with new methods that prove to be more effective. Additionally, it’s important to set deadlines to give you a sense of urgency. Deadlines help your mind prioritize what to work on each day. In my experience, it’s more important to set them than it is to reach them because we can adjust the deadline; but the progress is what we need to accomplish the goal. Avoiding setting a deadline can result in lost time, and you may even forget about it until it’s time to cram. Break down bigger goals into smaller, bite-sized goals, and set deadlines for each one. With time, you’ll be knocking goals out of the park! 

Ask God for His Strategy

Writing goals doesn’t guarantee results. This is why we need God’s help. So often, we get caught up in our ideas and develop an emotional bond with something we did not check in with God about. We end up wasting time and meeting frustration and anger that we weren’t meant to experience had we just asked God about our plans. The enemy will throw in ideas as well to distract you but you must combat those with prayer and patience. Write the vision, pray and wait on the Lord. 

I can confidently say if the strategy you hear does not involve others, it’s likely not from God. The second half of Habakkuk 2:2 says, “…so that he may run that readeth it.” That means there will be people in your life who are also excited about your goals and they need direction and clarity to help you reach it. As strong as we are, we cannot do everything alone, and the bigger the goal, the more help you will need. Pray for discernment as you invite people into your business and goals, and watch God supernaturally accelerate your progress. 

Celebrate Along the Way

What a harsh life we sign up for when we neglect to celebrate our accomplishments. Make sure you celebrate all the victories and praise God for the failures you will experience this year. A small exercise to train your mental muscles is to celebrate every day you wake up because you get another chance to strive further; every day is not guaranteed. 

As we cheer the New Year, let’s put our best effort into effective goal-setting. I think we will be pretty amazed at all God accomplishes through us. So, let’s begin! I have faith in you.  

Sheridan C. Watkins is a journalist and the owner of Perennial Peaces, a jewelry and gifts brand focused on transcending self-worth to all women. Her true work began after climbing out of a dark place with the help of God and therapy, and her life mission is to provide tangible peace through her Divine gifts to help women heal and transform their lives. Follow the mission on Instagram and Facebook: @perennialpeaces.