I’ve never done New Year’s resolutions, but I do take the time to set new goals for each year.

My past goals have ranged from starting a business to reading 100 books to running multiple half marathons.

This year was different. This is the first year I set goals for myself since quitting my full-time job.

This is also my first year going through this process since being diagnosed with ADHD and ulcerative colitis.  Both of which influenced how I looked at my goal setting process for 2024.

In the past I’ve used methods such as the SMART goals model and goal planners. While I have enjoyed using these models, this year I admitted that I needed to create my own process. 

What did I do different this year?

I started by asking myself a few questions to determine what my priorities for 2024 should be.

These questions allowed me to take a step back from what I thought I should accomplish in 2024 and focus on what I wanted to change in 2024.

If you decide to take this approach, give yourself time to answer the questions. It isn’t a race. It’s a meandering walk by a lake in the mountains.

• What worked for me this past year?
• What didn’t work for me this past year?
• What from this past year do I want to take into next year?
• What do I want my life to look like on the last day of 2024?
• What do I need to say yes to this year for my life to look this way?
• What do I need to say no to this year?

When I changed my mindset from setting goals I wanted to accomplish to setting goals based on what I wanted to be different in my life, I started seeing them as more than a to do list.

For someone with ADHD, this shift switched my thoughts around goals from chores that had to be done to a plan for my future.

Instead of trying to run another half-marathon like I had for the previous three years, I set a goal to focus on my health. This could include running another race, but the focus was on being healthy not the race.

So what happened when I changed how I set my goals?

• Goals became about creating systems that supported a lifestyle rather than checking off arbitrary little boxes on a list.

• My goals became overarching rather than specific and stifling. Thanks ADHD.

• Instead of having goals that fit in their perfect little bins, they could ebb and flow as my circumstances change.

• I looked at my goals with excitement rather than exhaustion for the first time.

When I tried setting goals in the past, I almost never succeeded. I had an all or nothing mentality because they were so specific.

I would get behind.

Life would happen.

Then I would have two options in front of me. I could either push myself until burn out or give up entirely. Since I was already experiencing burn out most of the time I would choose the latter. 

Successful people told me I needed to set goals a certain way. I needed to push myself harder.

It wasn’t until I took a step back that I realized the problem.

The person giving me advice wasn’t the person that had to complete the goals. It was me.

I’m not a goal setting expert, but if you’re setting goals this year remember that your goals are for you.

You’re not trying to fulfill someone else’s dreams. You’re trying to find the path to your future.