With every New Year comes the time to reflect on personal goals and growth for the 12 months ahead. Fashion Quarterly sits down with Beck Wadworth, founder of An Organised Life, as she shares her tips and tricks to getting settled into 2021 and her goals and intentions for the year ahead.
Tell us about your New Year goal-setting routine. How do you begin your year and visualise what you want to achieve in the coming months?
Setting new goals and intentions is one of my favourite parts of the year. The start of a new chapter and 365 new opportunities.
I always begin by reflecting back on the last 12 months. What were the highs and lows? What did I achieve and what could I improve on? I jot everything down in my diary and start identifying and workshopping what my priorities and goals will be for 2021. I love this stage in the goal setting process. Life these days is fast paced, and for most, we are our own harshest critic when it comes to things that don’t quite go our way throughout the year. We dwell on the negatives and somehow skim over the positives, rarely do we stop to celebrate all the incredible achievements we have made throughout the year. Sitting down to write your new goals is also a valuable time to reflect and celebrate on the goals that you did achieve in the past year as well. It’s a rewarding experience to see the boxes ticked off and to realise the dreams you have made a reality.
What are your top tips for setting goals and ensuring that you meet them?
Once you have reflected on the past year and have some sort of rough idea what you want to focus on, it’s time to go a little deeper. Make sure you dream big! My tips?
Refocus:
Split your goals into three main categories – personal, professional and financial. Where do you want to be and what do you want to achieve across these three categories by the end of 2021?
Be specific:
It sounds simple, but it’s very important to make sure your goals are very specific and also realistic. Try not to make them vague.
Things to consider:
• What exactly are you hoping to achieve?
• When do you want to achieve this by?Note: Make sure your goals are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely).
Identify the potential road blocks:
I’m not going to lie, when you set a goal, 99% of the time it’s never going to be smooth sailing the whole way when you’re trying to achieve it. But this is a positive as it makes us stronger and is part of the challenge of a goal. Get ahead by identifying the potential road blocks that could lie ahead for each goal and what you could do to overcome this. My tip is always knowing best and worst case scenario.
Write an action plan:
Once you have a clear understanding and vision on how you can realistically achieve your goal(s), put an action plan in place with small milestones you can tick off weekly or monthly in your diary (if you have an An Organised Life diary – there is a thorough Goal Planning section you can use). If you have a pin board, print or write out your goals and smaller tasks as a to-do list where you can see it, visualise and manifest. Otherwise reflect back to your diary weekly to remind yourself what your goals are.
What’s your best remedy for overcoming obstacles and increasing productivity?
Reflect, Review, Refocus: When I’m feeling overwhelmed with my workload or an obstacle I have hit the best thing to do is step back, take a breath or some space and then reflect, review and refocus. Break everything down into smaller bit sized chunks and go from there. Productivity wise – a really solid to-do list that is prioritised is always my go-to.
Name the three organisational tools or practices that you can’t live without:
My An Organised Life 2021 Diary:
I use it to manage my schedule & workload but also to plan & keep track of my goals, budget & favourite moments.To-do Lists:
One of the easiest ways I organise my life daily is by writing a big to-do list every evening for the following day. I love to use a symbol system to prioritise my workload and I always start my day focusing on my three MITs (most important tasks) when my attention span is high and I’m feeling fresh and motivated.Alarms:
I love utilising alarms to keep me on schedule daily.
What is your number one resolution or goal for 2021?
2020 taught me the importance of balance and to make time for self-care, health and wellbeing. In 2021, my personal goal is to make this a priority once again through reformer pilates, evening walks, no-work weekends and switching off in the evenings to spend time with loved ones or for self-care that fills up my tank.
