Spring is here! Flowers are starting to grow and bud; animals are having babies. Life is being breathed back into the world. I’ve planted my garden, and I have sprouts already popping up! I’ve seen a bird making a nest in a spot in my house.

Spring is a time of refresh and rebirth. And like nature, we as people can experience a form of rebirth too. It’s a good time to reevaluate your goals and progress. I struggle to complete goals in the winter because it’s cold, dark, stressful, long, etc. I can list reason after reason. And I also know that I tend to be really hard on myself because of it. I get frustrated with myself and sometimes can want to quit.

But, like the plants, I can refresh myself too. It’s okay to remove goals or change objectives in your life. You didn’t fail. You thought something would work, and it didn’t. There’s nothing wrong with that.

I’m having to do that myself. I haven’t made as much progress on some of my goals. I may not get rid of them, but I definitely need to change my approach. Even though I may have faced setbacks, I can still make progress or accomplish the things I want to do.

I want to provide tips for how to do this in case anyone else might need a refresh too. Like many posts on here, this is something I’m still working on myself. These tips may work for you or they may not. That’s okay! What matters is that you find the method and means that work for you.

• Evaluate your current goals– I prefer to go through my goals one by one, but I know that not everyone wants to dedicate that much time to self-improvement. All that really matters for this tip is that you look at your goals for the year.
• Identify the problem areas– Hopefully you have made some progress on a few of the goals you’ve set for yourself. For me, the areas I feel I’m slacking in stick out like a sore thumb. Hopefully, it is just as easy for you to identify the areas that need changed.
• Decide if these goals still apply– Not every goal that you set at the beginning of the year is going to work for you the whole year. Your situation may have changed. You might have had bigger ideas than reality. That’s all fine. If the goal no longer works, get rid of it. If it is something you still want to do, then…
• Create steps or modify the goal– I talked last week about how to break down goals in specific steps. It’s a good way to give yourself an action plan. However, if the goal feels unreasonable but you still like the idea, then maybe modify it. For example, let’s say your goal was to read 20 books this year. But you realize that it’s April, and you’ve only read 2 books. Instead of maintaining a goal that you don’t think you can reach, change it to one book each month. By the end of the year, you will have read 10 books. It may not be the initial goal, but it is still overall progress.
• Create new goals– There’s nothing that says the goals you made for yourself three months ago are the only goals you can make. You can always add more goals! I currently have a lot of projects in the works. While I may not be tracking them in my bullet journal or in other methods, I’m still working towards them. I’m already thinking of goal ideas I want to put in next year’s bullet journal. Because of that, I have small goals that I’m working on this year. I want to lay the groundwork for myself and put myself in a position to be able to reach those bigger goals next year. I actually have a space in my bullet journal for new goals I come up with for myself this year.

Check in with yourself. Be honest Pursue what you want to do. If you feel you’re missing the mark, then evaluate, adjust, and move forward. Like plants and animals, you too can experience a refresh and a new drive in life. Your path is different than mine. Go be successful in your life and in the way that works for you! Happy Spring!