Knitting, Goal Setting & Inevitable Failure

January is a weird month.

The first week is all "new year - new me". Positive vibes. Motivational quotes. And New Year's resolutions.

By mid-month, we're on to the whole blue Monday thing - the idea that the third Monday in January is the most depressing day of the year.

And by the end, half the goals and good intentions that were set at the start of the year have fallen by the wayside.

That's because most people set resolutions that they are never going to stick to. They are setting themselves up for inevitable failure.

Don't make resolutions, set goals

Let's say your focus is on being more physically active.

You might say: "I'm going to go to the gym more this year."

This is far too vague. What are you measuring? If you only went to the gym once last year and you go twice this week, you've already hit your target of going more. Does that mean you don't need to go again until next January? Have you really achieved anything significant?

Alternatively, you might say: "I'm going to go to the gym twice a week every week."

But that's too rigid. What if something urgent comes up and you only make it once next week? What if you get ill or injured and can't exercise for two weeks? You'll have failed before you even get going.

A better goal would be "I'm going to go to the gym at least 50 times this year." That works out about once week with a couple of missed weeks. Much more achievable. And if you hit your goal by June, you can always increase it.

Goals should be challenging, but they also need to be realistic. If your goals are too rigid, you're more likely to fail.

My exercise goal this year is to run 500km and cycle 1000km (on my indoor bike). The goal is still challenging - it works out at around 10km running each week and 20km cycling. But it's also flexible. If I can't run one week, I can do more another week. I can have a bad week - even a bad month - and still hit my goal.

And it's not just fitness goals I set. I set other goals too.

This year one of my goals is to knit a blanket.

Why knitting?

I was staying with my mum over Christmas and my brother bought her some beautiful wool and a knitting pattern for a blanket.

For the next two days, she sat knitting while we watched cheesy Christmas movies. She made it look so easy and so relaxing. I decided I wanted to give it a try.

So when I got home, I ordered a cheap knitting kit and, on New Year's Eve, I watched a YouTube tutorial and got started.

My first attempt was bloody awful and the next couple weren't much better.

But I persevered. I kept trying until I got a bit better.

Each morning when I take a coffee break, I set a target to complete four rows. It's not a huge target, but it means I practice every day and, most importantly, I make a little progress every day. If I have some free time in the evening, I do a bit more.

Below is my latest effort. It's still not the neatest but it's definitely an improvement on my first few attempts. And it's helping me get better so I'll be able to achieve my big goal of knitting a blanket.

I've actually found an unexpected benefit to knitting - it's helping me with my business.

Now I've got the hang of it, muscle memory takes over so I don't need to concentrate as much on what I'm doing. Instead, I find my mind wandering and I've been coming up with loads of content ideas, working through business challenges, and processing information.

So if I'm feeling a bit stuck or need a break from the screen, I take a fifteen minute knitting break and when I get back to my desk, I feel more focused.

It also helps motivate me. Every day, I see a little bit of progress - I can physically see the results of my effort so I feel like I've achieved something. And whenever we achieve something, no matter how small, we feel more motivated.

It's one of the reasons I like exercising - if I run 5k, I feel like I've achieved a goal. It gives me a boost.

So my advice to you for this year is to find a new hobby or set a new goal. Make it something that allows you to see the progress you are making.

If it's running, cycling, walking or something similar, set a goal for the number of miles or kilometres you want to do and track your figures so you can see the goal getting closer. You can use a spreadsheet or an app or even stick a tally chart to your fridge.

If it's knitting, sewing, embroidering, making matchstick models, doing jigsaw puzzles, writing a book or anything that can be done a bit at a time, set a small target for each time you work on it. You'll be able to physically see the progress, even if it's not much at all.

And every time you make a bit of progress, you'll get those lovely endorphins you get when you've achieved something, and you'll feel more motivated to achieve your bigger goals.

Plus, you'll often find that stepping away from your business to do something unrelated (even for a short time), will help you work through problems and come up with new ideas.

It's not too late to start

Goal setting isn't limited to the first day of the year. You can set goals and targets any time. So scrap any unrealistic resolutions and set challenging but realistic goals instead.

• Create 100 social media posts
• Write 12 blog posts
• Attend 6 networking events
• Film 20 videos
• Guest on 4 podcasts
• Write 1 book
• Read 12 books
• Run/walk/cycle 500 miles
• Knit a blanket
• Learn how to play your favourite song on guitar
• Tick five things off your bucket list

Once you have your big goals, you can set yourself mini goals to help you get there.

Good luck - let me know how you get on.

Lisa

PS. If you read last week's email, you'll know I've been having problems with Medium. Well, in an unexpected turn of events, they have reinstated my Partner Program status.

Someone I know was in contact with an actual person from Medium about something completely unrelated. She kindly mentioned my situation and they looked into it. A couple of hours later, I got an email from Medium.

After additional review, we’ve decided to unsuspend your account. 

No explanation and no apology. In fact, their email still made it sound like it was my fault. They did admit to the person who flagged it for me that it was their error, but they withheld that admission from me.

I'm still annoyed. They wouldn't have looked into it if someone with a bit more sway hadn't mentioned it so I still think their service is crappy. And it will be a long time before I trust them or recommend them. But I had already planned on continuing to write on there as it gives me an additional channel to promote my newsletters. At least now, there's a chance I can also make a few quid in the process (and I might get my $2.53 after all).