New Year Goals Tin

Happy New Year everyone! It is that time of the year: when you set those goals to last until 2015 rolls around. If you are like a lot of people, you might set some lofty goal and then fail to reach it each year, but I'm here to give you a crafty little way to make the best of it this year. A cute little tin filled with monthly goals to help you achieve the bigger "resolution".

To make your own goal tin for 2014 you will need:

Colored papers or card stock of your choice
scissors or a small paper cutter
pen or pencil
washi tape
small jar or decorative tin

Start by cutting out your paper strips. I used 12"x12" sheets of cardstock and cut them into 6"x1" strips. I used a different color of paper for each goal area: 1 for blogging goals, one for exercising goals, and one for food goals. You can make as many "mini goals" for each category as you like, but don't overwhelm yourself with more than 12 in any category--you want to be able to achieve them all by December!

Next, write a mini goal for the month onto each paper slip. I really want to try to blog more this year (I find I often don't realize how long it has been between posts because of all the updates I post on facebook or instagram- I want to be more present on my blog this year).

Try to set yourself up for success by not making your goals too specific (instead of "lose 2 pounds each week" make goals like "take a 30 minute walk after dinner 4 times a week"). By setting small goals that can become habits, you set yourself up to succeed in your larger goal!

Close each mini goal with a colorful piece of washi tape. This will help keep you from "cherry picking" your goals each month by keeping those paper slips closed (no peeking!). I also find that by having a bunch of colorful paper slips in your jar, with happy little tape accents you are more likely to notice those goals at the start of each month--and maybe even look forward to each new challenge!

Put all of your paper slips into a jar, and place that jar somewhere you will notice it. You can even set up a reminder at the start of each month so you don't forget to start those new mini goals (if you use Outlook or another program with calendar capabilities it is easy to set reminders up--you can even do them on your smart phone!).

As you can see, I chose a decorative tin for my goals, as it is what I had on hand. I have seen lots of different glass jars, etc. at places like the dollar store though, so get creative on what method best motivates you to keep your mini goals going all year long!