How to set EASY goals for 2023

A short post to encourage you to show self-compassion in your 2023 planning, plus a gentle reminder to please complete the Academia Made Easier 2022 Reader Survey.

Hello and welcome to Academia Made Easier. I am so glad that you are here. 

The start of a new calendar year tends to inspire a lot of goal-setting. Goals for work achievements, fitness achievements, personal achievements. These can be motivating for a short period of time and then quickly transition into being a chore.

Chores suck.

There is another option. Last year, in “How to set goals that aren’t completely delusional”, I introduced the idea of EASY goals. EASY goals have four criteria: Energizing, Agency, Small, and Yours.

If you are thinking of goals for 2023, I encourage you to (re)visit that post. And if you are someone who resolves NOT to set New Year’s Resolutions, I encourage you to consider the possibility that an EASY goal might be something you would enjoy.

[Podcast enthusiasts: I spoke about EASY goals with Heather Ross on the Better Me podcast last year. Check out EP 78 EASY Goals, Motivation, and Time to Think (with guest Loleen Berdahl).]

One of my own EASY goals for 2023 is to make Academia Made Easier more responsive to reader feedback. To this end, here is a gentle reminder that I welcome your feedback and ideas for Academia Made Easier content in 2023. Please see my last post, “How to get the Academia Made Easier content you want in 2023” for more details, or just go directly to the Academia Made Easier Reader Survey. The survey is short, all questions are optional, and it includes THREE dated pop culture references. I will close the survey on Sunday, January 1, 2023, exact time TBD. Thank you to everyone who has generously completed the survey so far!

Okay, that is all for now. It has been my pleasure to connect with you over 2022. I am excited about continuing to do so in 2023!

Stay well, my colleagues. 

P.S. If you read to the bottom without clicking the survey link, here it is again: Academia Made Easier Reader Survey. I really want to hear from you!

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Loleen Berdahl, Ph.D.: I am a twin mother, wife, runner, cat lover, and chocolate enthusiast. I spend far too much time binge-watching television and my house could be a lot cleaner. During the work hours, I am the Executive Director of the  Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy. I am the author of University Affair’s Skills Agenda column and my most recent books are  Work Your Career: Get What You Want from Your Social Sciences or Humanities PhD and Explorations: Conducting Empirical Research in Canadian Political Science.