Willpower intention and organisation are like muscle memory, the more we do it, the more we show up for ourselves, the more it sticks.
Neuroscience research shows that our willpower – our ability to resist temptation is like a muscle. The more we push ourselves out of our comfort zone the bigger this muscle gets.
For 24 I’ve got some HUGE goals for ME and its going to take willpower because ADHD is the biggest SUCKER of willpower known to man – at least for me it is…… and this is how I’m doing it….
Goals – I read a bunch of stuff online, followed a heap of people on socials, looked everywhere I could (this is my ADHD thing, research everything to death) what to buy, how to do it, what to follow, best ways blah blah blah…….. just to figure out that nothing really fit what I was looking for, I kinda know what my goals are and I can write the lists (there are always lists, right??) but I needed to figure out how……
Organisation – I ALWAYS buy a diary for the new year, I love diaries and stationery and pens and stickers and everything bright and shiny and makes my diary look great……. But every year it never gets used to its full potential or not at all. I procrastinate about which one is best and buy like 3 just in case I don’t like the first one I buy!! – again the how……. #2 Blog
Habits – we’ve all done the NY resolutions that have lasted all of a couple of days or weeks or minutes, again the how ……… #3 Blog (still working on this one)
So, the fact that last year for me was a complete write off and I have huge intentions and even bigger plans for 24 this is what I did.
Goals:
Having goals is great but goals that are unrealistic or too big or complicated for an ADHD brain become very easily shelved.
Having goals without assessing how you got to the point you’re at right now is kind of like treading water and again for an ADHD brain this becomes frustrating, and goals go out the window.
Setting goals that align with other people’s needs is pointless and stressful!!
So when you are looking at YOUR goals for 2024 first do some brain dumping, this works really well for ADHD brains, helps calm the tornado in there and make sense of all the churning ideas and rabbit holes etc.
Here are the templates to get you started - 2024 Goals PDF
Health
Time
Finances
Business
Dreams
Look at all things over the PAST 12 months……What has worked? What has not worked? What did you want to happen? What are the successes? What were the failures?
Don’t be hard on yourself, this is a chance to reassess and reset and understand how your brain works for you and against you.
Now picture yourself at the end of 2024 and write down all the great things you would like to accomplish in these areas in the next 12 months!!!
THIS IS HARD I KNOW!!! But this is what goal setting is all about
REMEMBER - this is about you – not about the goals for the other people in your life, yes the goals you make for yourself may affect other people but remember to be selfish about these things, it helps to keep us honest with ourselves about the reality of our situation but it also helps keep us motivated and us Neurodiverse people need this!!!
Now that you have your goals in each of the 5 areas break these goals down into tasks….. for example….
One of mine is to exercise more, standard NY resolution right?? Yes but really not very motivating or actionable…. So I looked back into my mountains of lists and research and found this pearl of wisdom..
Specific: Clear and well-defined.
Measurable: Quantifiable or assessable.
Achievable: Realistically attainable.
Relevant: Aligned with broader objectives.
Time-bound: Has a defined timeline.
Easy to start: Simple to initiate or begin.
Reflective: Encourages regular reflection.
So now my goal of exercise more became…
Walk 4 days a week for 20 mins minimum in the morning before I do anything else.
Join a boxing class (that I have been looking at for ages) that I can do after work at least 1 day a week!
For the first quarter and then assess my progress on how I feel at the end of the quarter, how well I stuck to it, etc. This means I haven’t put a weight loss goal on there, its not necessarily a “must do” it’s more a “I know I feel better mental health wise and health wise if I exercise and I want to do this as much as I can” rather than “I’m going to lose 10 kgs in 3 months” type goal.
Now I have the goal on my list for Health and Time, why time you ask…. well one of my big issues for 23 was getting out of bed in the morning, I am not a morning person AT ALL and so getting out of bed and getting organised to do anything meant that yes I got to work or whatever was on for that day but nothing was done around the house, so one of my goals for this year is things getting done in the morning before I leave the house, hence TIME therefore walk in the morning means getting out of bed earlier, means things get done around the house before I leave for work, means more organised me!!!
I would really suggest that you only work on ONE quarter at a time, yes you will get the whole year to download but only print off the sheets for last year and the first quarter only!!!
Why you ask?? Because us ADHD brains get super overwhelmed with too much info at once so coming up with the goals for the whole year is enough in itself, then having to work out tasks and THEN having to put them into months – well that is overwhelm, it was for me. So just do one quarter at a time!!! Don’t put those other sheets somewhere “safe”, keep them with you, we have a plan for them but don’t work on them just yet!!!