The New Year always brings out our interest to look at ourselves in a positive light as well as making positive changes. Thinking of New Year makes us think about New Year Resolutions. However, tons of research shows that New Year’s Resolutions actually don’t work and is an ineffective way to achieve what we want in our life. On a lighter note, creating a good habit and setting a New year ADHD goals.
So, let’s make use of this New Year energy and make new changes with the use of goals and habits in your life. Are you wondering where to start? Well, why not start with your health. Since a healthier, you would lead to a less problematic negative ADHD symptom.
The key to achieving your goals is to start with your big goal and work your way backwards. Doing this would allow you to stick to your smaller goals since the big ones excite you. You’d feel a sense of exhilaration. Not only will you achieve your goal but you would also know that you can do anything that you would set your mind to do and would much likely stick to it more often.
When an inspired ADHD adult can achieve an incredible feat in a very short space of time, then so can you. So the first thing to do for 2018 is to create an exciting goal. Do not worry about how you would achieve your goal but think on what you would really want to achieve.
Here Are Things You Should Bear In Mind When Setting Your New Year ADHD Goals
CHANGE IS HARD WORK
Routines are harder to follow for people with ADHD. Many people with ADHD dread consistency, habit or routine. More often than not, most of them find it excruciating to do the same thing every day. Some of you may find it ridiculous but a lot of ADHD traits make it hard to adapt to new behaviours. Change is really hard work.
KEEP THINGS SIMPLE
When setting a goal do it for your better good. Know that there is something good in store for you on the other side of this uncomfortable effort that you will be doing.
SET GOALS THAT YOU KNOW YOU CAN KEEP
A baby doesn’t learn to walk in a day. They slowly learn to stand up while holding on to furniture then slowly practice putting one foot in front of the other and they do it in a period of time until it would actually feel natural.
Sometimes, we gain something by taking it slow. Take, for example, it is easier to lose 5 pounds of weight than losing 50 pounds. 20 minutes of exercise is a lot more realistic than an hour and a half. So, just slow down and enjoy the moment even though it’s difficult to find balance with ADHD.
SET A REALISTIC DREAM
Setting an unrealistic goal would never work in your favour because this is where negative self-talk would begin. Dreaming too big would just end up making you feel like a total failure. So don’t add another checkmark to the things you couldn’t do. Instead, dream realistically and enjoy the moments of victory.
DON’T LOSE SIGHT OF THE BIGGER PICTURE
A good thing happens when you take a step back to think about why you want to achieve the goals that you have set. A new habit won’t be so dreadful to think of if you just think of the benefits you’ll receive. Keeping your eyes on the prize would allow you to push through the challenges.
STOP DENYING
ADHD is not a stop sign it’s a yield sign. You should learn to recognize your individual symptoms, your ability to adjust to the obstacles brought about by the goals that you have set. Recognize the things that prevent you from moving forward. Denying will not be productive. ADHD is different for every person. So only you can know how your ADHD shows up in your life and vow not to let your ADHD stop you.
GAME YOUR BRAIN
A habit usually brings fatigue to your ADHD brain. Repeating the same behaviour over and over would feel like an enigmatic chore. Doing something for yourself might not be enough of a motivation. In order to make a new habit stick, you have to find something special that would ignite your soul or else find something new or keep searching until you find one that does.
FOLLOW YOUR INSPIRATION
It’s much easier to achieve your goal when you have something waiting on the other side. Let’s take for example losing weight, it would be much easier to lose weight when you’ve been eyeing that stunning dress to wear on a high school reunion or so.
In the absence of such, try tapping into your greatest passions and make them your reward for the hard work that you’ve been doing.
STOP BEATING YOURSELF UP
Don’t believe every thought that passes through your mind. Remember that every hour is an opportunity to do something new. Stop believing that you won’t be able to do it. Instead, embrace a positive outlook towards your goals and start believing that you can.
COUNT YOUR SUCCESSES, NOT YOUR FAILURES
Most of the time, you might be feeling like you will never be able to finish your to-do list and instead of reminiscing the times you succeeded you often remember the times that you have failed. It is a big no since doing such would stop you from attempting to do it. Instead, think about a time when you really, truly wanted to do something so badly that you have made it happen and count those times.
WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, ADHD’ers GET TOUGHER
Anyone with ADHD will tell you that day to day frustrations are very painful to push through. The fear and emotional crises make you a little less tolerant to deal with those challenges. In order for you to succeed, you have to set a goal, face your battles head on and be driven. It means that admitting that your goal is not easy but your determination and drive would be enough to push through and you will.
