Midyear 2019: How are your 2019 goals coming along?

Year in and year out, most people set personal goals, and then further break them down into tasks for each quarter and each month. Some of the goals we set are very ambitious, some necessary, and some others are ‘nice-to-haves’.

The year begins on a very high note, with our goals at the top of our minds and the first weeks go by with us doing everything we can to try to achieve them. And then life happens and all of a sudden we are in July.

What? Where did all the days go?

By the time we realize that half the year is behind us, our minds go into panic mode, and we shelf some of the goals we have set up since its beginning. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Insights from Empaticans

At Empatica, we believe in setting goals and aiming to achieve them, no matter how ambitious they are. We spoke to some Empaticans about tips on how to stick to your goals, and they have shared some useful ones.

The positive side of peer pressure

Our Chief Software Architect and Co-Founder, Maurizio Garbarino, says the key is peer pressure.

“If you share your personal goals with someone you care about (or better you share them publicly with everyone), there’s a chance that your commitment will be stronger because you’ll know others are watching”.

Francesco Corazza, Product Manager at Empatica agrees with this line of thought, saying

“For me, peer pressure works the best. Having a person keeping me accountable is the best way. Either telling somebody your goal (e.g., I want to run a marathon) or have a person with your same goal (e.g., let’s get the sailing license together)”.

In this context, peer pressure has positive effects because you have your friends pushing you until you achieve your goal.

Taking it one day at a time

On the other hand, Chelsea Trengrove, Empatica’s Program Manager believes that “taking everything one day at a time is most important. You just have to say yes to your goal today.”

Also, one of our Customer Happiness specialists, Mzia Kupunia, expatiates on this:

“Actually, long-term goal setting and resolutions never work for me. Especially if the goal is very ambitious. What works for me is setting short term goals. For example, instead of saying ‘I’ll get in shape in 2019’, I say ‘I’ll walk to work at least 3 times a week this month’. Then, if those 3 times a week work well for me, then I add a lunchtime walking session too. Instead of saying ‘I will read 50 books in 2019’ I say, I just commit to 1 hour of reading every evening. Eventually, it always ends up being more than one hour a day, and I have a sense of overachievement, which is nice! So, the key is to break up the goals into small, realistic and achievable pieces for small wins every day!”

Use the right tools

Speaking on what works for her, Giulia Regalia, Senior Data Scientist at Empatica says

“I usually set up frequent reminders in my calendar and try to shape the goal as a challenge with myself in my mind. When possible, engaging other people towards a common goal (e.g. Doing regular physical exercise with friends) helps me.”

If you’d like to work in a company where no goal is unattainable, check out our available roles here!

Embrace also helps!

For some Embrace users, having the Embrace watch has helped them to achieve some of their goals. Featured in one of our Embrace stories, Megan aims to be able to hop back on the saddle again, since she is passionate about horses. With the Embrace, she feels safer and more confident about it, and she’s able to spend more time with her friend, Beth, with whom she shares the same passion. Read Megan’s full Embrace story here.

Another Embrace user, Tara, aspires to open her own bar, and in her Embrace Story she shares how the Embrace watch has helped her towards achieving this. “My passion now is to open my own bar, before there was no way I could do it. I wouldn’t be able to keep track of my health while trying to open a new business, now I can see on a journal (the Mate App, a companion app for Embrace) the sleep I need and time to rest.“

To read more stories from Embrace users, check out our Embrace stories page.

Other Tips

Having heard from the people behind the Embrace watch, here are some other tips that experts have sworn by:

• Write them down: We often underestimate the power of writing. It is easy to have goals set in your head, but putting it down on a sheet of paper or electronic device affirms it. It reminds you every time that you take a look at it and makes you want to jump into action.
• Set attainable goals: Take a look at your written goals. Take another look. Are they achievable? One quick guide to setting goals is to make sure that they are SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely. If the goals you set at the beginning of the year are not all of these, then it’s time to rewrite them!
• Break it down: Setting a broad goal is easier said than done. Let’s say that you have set a goal that is, for example, to sleep for 8 hours each day by the end of the year. If you currently sleep for 5 hours each day, you can start from sleeping for 6 hours each day for the first quarter of the year, and then increase it the next quarter to 7 hours, and then the next, until you reach the goal at the end of the year. Breaking it down makes your goal easier to follow through with, rather than forcing yourself to sleep for 8 hours from the next day of setting the goal. You can easily track your sleep pattern and efficiency of your sleep using your Embrace watch through the Mate app.
• Celebrate small wins: Who doesn’t like a reason to celebrate? Celebrate your progress every step of the way, no matter how little!

Do you have any tips for achieving your goals that work for you? Feel free to share them with us and everyone can learn a thing or two!

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