5 Small Ways to Achieve Your Big Goals
Specificity is key
Resolutions — made right — can make a huge difference in boosting happiness,” says Gretchen Rubin, host of the podcast Happier With Gretchen Rubin and the author of several books on happiness. The “made right” is important. Resolving to make a change won’t make the change happen on its own. In order to follow through on your goals, you will need to frame them in a way that supports your success. Here’s Rubin’s advice for making resolutions you’ll actually keep, and becoming happier in the process:
Ask yourself: “What would make me happier?”
It might be having more of something good (fun with friends, time for a hobby) or having less of something bad (yelling at your kids, regretting what you’ve eaten). Or it might be fixing something that doesn’t feel right. But you have to identify this “what” before you can make a change for the better.
Identify a concrete habit that would bring about that change
Think specific and actionable. Instead of “find more joy in life,” try something more like “watch a classic movie every Sunday night.”
