Originally Posted on The Coaching Tools Company as Overcoming New Year Goals Fatigue by Wendy Buckingham
At this time of the year everybody—maybe your own coach—is likely to be asking, “What are your goals for 2026?”. If you’re feeling New Year goals fatigue, you’re not alone. And you might be asking the same question of your clients. Maybe you are feeling just a bit stuck and tired of the whole goal thing.
So first let’s take some of the pressure off by taking a look at what a goal actually is. Simply put, a goal is something you set within a time frame to help take your clients (and you) from where they are to what they want to do, be or have.
A goal doesn’t have to be huge. It could be anything from cleaning out your wardrobe—yes, that can feel huge!—to going on a bucket-list holiday, or achieving a career position or business income.
Read on for strategies I learned and used with clients and in my goals clinics—approaches that helped people actually achieve their goals. These are among those featured in my book, “Mastering the Art of Goals Coaching”.
My secrets to success with goals are:
- First, handle anything that might get in the way of easily setting and achieving the goal.
- Then, make sure the goal-achievement strategies are aligned before you start on the actions.
Clean up any old, failed goals and negative beliefs
One of the biggest blockers—before a client even sets a big goal—is a negative experience with with big goals in the past. A goal may have been abandoned for reasons outside their control (illness, accident), or not achieving it resulted with a feeling of failure and a reluctance to try again.
A process I found invaluable is to first invite them to tell the full story of the goal: What was it? What was expected to happen? What actually happened? What went wrong?
Then ask, as appropriate:
- Even though you didn’t achieve the goal, what did you learn along the way?
- How are you now stronger to go forward?
- What mistake do you now not have to make?
- Do you still want this goal?
From the answers, you can help them decide whether to re-set the goal and plan it using the check for success below.
Have any goals been achieved but not acknowledged?
It’s also really important to check whether there are any goals they have achieved but not acknowledged. The spirit needs acknowledgement and too often we are too busy moving on to the next goal, we forget to acknowledge and celebrate what has been achieved.
For example, was that degree celebrated? Or were you so busy job-hunting you skipped the moment entirely? Setting a new goal without celebrating the old one can result in a loss of energy and motivation.
An important step in clearing the space for new goals is to look backwards and list what’s been achieved. Then make sure each win is acknowledged and adequately celebrated or rewarded.
Is this a SMARTY goal?
There are many versions of SMART goals as a check for the powerfulness of a goal. My version adds in the Y.
- Specific – You’ll know when the goal has been achieved. Not “I’m going to lose some weight but “I’m going to lose 10kg”
- Measurable – You can keep track of progress and see how it is going.
- Achievable – It is something that can be done, but…
- Realistic – It can reasonably be done by you, taking your circumstances into account. (Becoming an opera singer if you are tone deaf may not be realistic!)
- Timed – There’s a stated intended achievement date. Dates can move if needed; the point is to have one.
- Yours – It’s something you really want, not something someone else wants for you.
Team and Group SMARTY goals: The missing link
This is about the “Y”, Yours of the SMARTY GOAL.
When more than one person is involved, the group or team goal may be decided by an organisation or partner without proper inclusion in the process. It is vital that each person has their own personal outcome for achieving the agreed goal.
What do they personally want to achieve by committing to it?
This locks in motivation and strengthens the group. One resentful person who feels a goal has been imposed can sabotage the whole project.
Why do you want this goal?
The answers to this question must be powerful. When the goal is said out loud it should result in a smile or obvious enthusiasm.
The “Why” is about:
- What will achieving this goal mean to you?
- What will you have achieved?
- What will be the benefits?
- What will you have proved – to yourself and/or others?
Action Planning
Make a list of everything that needs to happen on the way to the goal—starting from the first step that requires more than one action. What ideally needs to be achieved along the way? For instance, a goal to have 10 new clients by (date) might include:
- Creating a business card
- Starting a Social media presence
- Networking in person
- Setting up an automatic booking system
- …and so on
Sometimes it works best to start with the goal achieved and work backwards: “What happened just before that?”
When your list is complete, decide which project—if completed—will make the biggest difference to your progress. Focus on that as your priority. Then move to the next project that will now make the most difference.
Of course, you may be working on other projects at the same time but make the project that will carry you forward the most, the most important to complete first.
Design a Personal Goal Policy
Look back at the behaviours that have helped—or hindered—you in the past. List what worked and what held you back. From this, create your personal policy to make the path to this new goal easier.
Your policy could include anything from “charge my phone and answer emails promptly” to “take time for daily self-care to avoid burnout.”
Trouble-shooting stuck goals
Of course, there may be humps and bumps along the way to the goal when motivation is lost. Knowing some strategies to handle these can get things moving again.
Here are some I suggest to get you through, rather than beat yourself up.
- Blind alleys can reveal the truth: There is nothing wrong with finding out along the way that, however keen you were, this goal now longer works for you or is something you really want. Going down the wrong path can often reveal what you really would like to achieve and you can reset the goal to work towards that.
- Has your time frame to achieve the goal turned out to be too tight?: There is nothing wrong with changing this to give you more time. Timelines are not set in stone and can be extended if needed. The important thing is to have one rather can make your goal into a “someday” event.
- Revisit the “Why”: Make sure the goal still inspires you. It may have become a should or an ought to, rather than something you are really motivated to achieve.
- Take time out: Take a break from the goal for a few days or weeks. Do other things. Come back to the goal with a fresh look.
Celebrate, Celebrate, Celebrate!
Make achieving each little step on the way to the goal, a mini goal and a reason for celebration. As I said in the beginning the spirit needs acknowledgement and encouragement. So even if on day one, your only win was forcing yourself to get out of bed and making that phone call, it’s worth a pat on the back.
Here’s to your joyful goal achievement.
If you enjoyed this article, you may also like:
- Power up Your Goals: 9 Ways to Get Inspired and Stay Motivated! by Wendy Buckingham
- Coach FEATURE: Meet Wendy Buckingham
- SMART Goals – Complete Guide for Coaches (plus Special Report .PDF)
