Setting 2021 goals: Making Impact with Kindness

What a year it’s been. No matter where you are, you’ve likely been impacted by the global pandemic, which has caused a disruption in how we’ve lived our “normal” lives. This is a great time of year to reflect on how we’ve felt and behaved, and even though what we may recall as “normal” may not be the same going into the new year, how we react to change—and how we change ourselves—can be a good thing.

First, we don’t believe you have to set New Year’s resolutions. Studies show while 60% of people set resolutions for the new year, only 8% of them get completed. Don’t set yourself up for failure! Instead of making a long list of goals you’d like to accomplish, here are three suggestions that may look a bit different.

Visualize Your Highest Self

Whether you practice meditation, visualization, journaling, or another reflective practice, focusing on your ideal self can have an impact on the completion of your goals. Olympic athletes work with sports psychologists on mental training to improve their performance. In a study, participants who mentally practiced a 5-finger sequence on an imaginary piano for two hours a day had the same neurological changes and reduced mistakes compared to participants who physically practiced the same passage on an actual piano. 

Want to eat more plant-based? Visualize yourself buying groceries, cooking a meal, and eating a tasty vegan and plant-based dish that nourishes your body. Browsing vKind can help you with cooking and eating more kindly.

 Want to connect more with saving animals? Even if you can’t physically visit an animal sanctuary, you can browse websites and social media feeds online and imagine yourself playing with or petting those happily rescued animals. You can also do this as an activity by sharing the experience with loved ones, whether it’s watching online, or in-person together. By creating shared experiences or passing on new knowledge, you’ll be actualizing your highest self and expanding the ripple effect of the kindness you have toward animals.

Create Steps around a Theme for the year, or the One Big Goal

 There’s nothing wrong with a laundry list of goals you want to accomplish in 2021, but sometimes items left uncrossed can make people feel like they’re not progressing. Instead, we suggest creating a theme for the year and listing actions or intentions revolving around that theme, or action steps leading to the ONE goal you want to have completed by the end of next year.

For example, if your theme is “Being Kinder,” think of all the ways you can be kind to yourself, to animals, to the environment, to your coworkers, your loved ones, and strangers or organizations. Then choose one action each day or week to complete. If you get into a good flow, dial up the volume on your actions. 

If your one big, hairy, audacious goal (BHAG) is living vegan, make a list of all the steps you must do to eliminate animal products from your diet, wardrobe, and household. Then order it from easiest to most difficult. 

Participating in Veganuary is a great time to test out trying to eat vegan for a month, and you can visit Veganuary.com for all the resources to support this goal. 

Need a coach to help you stay accountable and on track? You can search for a vegan coach on vKind!

Remember Your Values

You’re more likely to achieve goals that are interconnected with your values. In the same way we get an icky gut feeling when something isn’t right, if you feel like an action item doesn’t resonate with you, it might not align with your goals. Goals may not scare us, but sometimes the action items we know we must do can be scary, and that’s when a counselor, therapist, or talking to a good friend, accountability buddy or family member can help.

 Some of the reasons people want to live a vegan lifestyle involve saving animals and the environment, shifting food and water resources, eating a more healthy whole-food, plant-based diet, living longer, and fighting for racial justice.

 Perhaps you want more of your dollars to be a part of the VegEconomyTM and support more vegan entrepreneurs and businesses, many of which are here at vKind. That’s a great and direct way to turn your vision into action!

Whatever your goals are for 2021, good luck and don’t hesitate to share your goal-smashing story with us on social media.

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