11 Must-Have Emotional Goals For the Year 2023

Imagine how your life would look like if you could control what you feel.

You would live a happier life, stop stressing out, enjoy every moment, stop losing your mind so quickly, and the list of benefits goes on.

All of it feels like a fantasy, right?

But, you know what? It could turn into your reality!
To become a master of your emotions, you just need to have the right set of emotional goals.

Just read this guide carefully, and you’ll get to know:-

• What is the exact definition of emotional goals?
• What are the emotional wellness goals you can set for yourself?
• How can you accomplish those goals easily?

Without any further delay, let’s dive into the post.

What are Emotional Goals?

Before setting up your emotional goals for the year 2023, you need to know the exact definition of emotional wellness goals.

I’ll make you answer this yourself.

You would’ve surely been through a situation where you came back home from a long stressful day at work, and your parents/spouse told you to make your bed or carry out any other petty task, and you yelled at them.

So, what did you do next?

You felt guilty, apologized to them, and made up your mind that you wouldn’t get angry so quickly.

Notice the thought that you won’t lose your mind quickly?
That right there, my friend, is an emotional goal.

So, In simple words, Emotional goals are the goals you set for yourself to help you improve your overall emotional well-being. They could be anything like having control over your temper, being satisfied with what you have, or being optimistic in every situation.

When you achieve your emotional goals:-

• You become the master of your emotions.
• You become a better version of yourself.
• You find yourself stabler than ever, which means that you don’t just lose your mind too quickly or overreact at small situations.
• You become the personality that you always wanted to be.
• You live life the way you truly want to live.

11 Emotional Goals For the Year 2023 and The Best Ways to Achieve Them

You might be wondering, “Why did I choose exactly 11 emotional development goals?”

Here’s the reason:-
As per research, 80% of the new year’s resolutions fail, But I don’t want any of your emotional goals to fall under this category.

I want you to be easy with the process.

So, you’ll be accomplishing just one emotional goal every month, which means it would take you 11 months to achieve all the goals.

What about the remaining one month?
In that month, you’ll just relax, reward yourself, and celebrate that you’ve achieved all your emotional goals.

Sounds interesting, right?

Now, it’s time to look at the 11 emotional wellness goals examples you can set for the year 2023 and how you can accomplish them one by one.

NOTE:- You can rearrange the order of the goals as per your comfort.

1. Get Away From “Destructive Dissatisfaction.”

YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE SATISFIED WITH YOUR LIFE!

Yes, You are reading it correctly. You really don’t have to.

It’s because once you get satisfied with everything you have, you stop making efforts to get out of your comfort zone. You stop pushing your limits and never get to know your true potential.

Being hungry and foolish is great.

However, the problem arises when you become destructively dissatisfied (like most average individuals).
Instead of working towards your betterment, you start blaming circumstances and other people for your situation. You exaggerate every problem in your life, want them to get magically solved, and all of it turns into emotional distress.

Put a hand on your heart and give me an honest answer:-“Do you feel that this situation resonates with you?”

If yes, it’s okay! We are going to fix this forever in the year 2023.

This year, you will turn into a person who’s satisfied with what he has but still wants to achieve what he can.

How Can You Achieve this Goal?

First of all, stop looking for satisfaction in materialistic things. Even if you’ll be earning $500,000+ per year, you won’t feel satisfied.

Coming onto your daily habits, most people feel that if their day starts well, it ends well. Why not take advantage of this mindset?

Start every morning with gratitude (NO smartphones for at least a few minutes). Imagine all those people who wish to have what you already have. Feel blessed and acknowledge everything that God has given to you.

Further, grab a journal and write down:-

• Three things that you love about yourself.
• Three goals that you need to accomplish by the end of the day.

Soon, your mind would get filled with positivity and enthusiasm to achieve your goals. Once these activities turn into a permanent habit, you won’t feel destructively dissatisfied ever again.

You might struggle a bit in expressing gratitude in the initial phase because of the negativity inside you, but soon you’ll get used to it.

2. Get Over All the Life Regrets.

We all have made some mistakes in the past. 
Some of us are able to move on from those mistakes, while others get stuck and feel regretful for what they did.

For those who get stuck, their life turns into a nightmare. They gradually develop self-doubt, lower their self-image, and are mostly filled with negative thoughts. 
Their happiness is short-lived because their memories keep flashing in their mind.

Do you often find yourself struggling with your past regrets too?

If Yes, 2023 is the year to create an emotional wellness goal to get over those past regrets.

How Can You Achieve this Goal?

The best method to achieve the goal of overcoming past regrets is acceptance. You need to accept that you’ve got no control over your past, and it’s natural for us, as human beings, to make mistakes.

Rather than running away from your past thoughts, spend time with yourself every day. Think about:- “what exactly happened” and “why all of it happened.” Further, learn lessons from it and start moving on.

3. Control Your Reactions (Before it’s too late!).

You would surely agree that most of the time, we lose our minds because of impulsive reactions. However, when we calm down, we look back and say:-“I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did.”

But, what if you’ve already hurt your spouse, close friend, parents, or someone else really badly?
You start feeling guilty and disgusting.

Won’t it be really amazing if you could control yourself before losing your mind?

Well, Actually you could! And, it’s going to be your third emotional goal for the year 2023.

How Can You Achieve this Goal?

Being mindful of your emotions could be the easiest way to control any sort of over-reactions before you even exhibit them.

You can start by being aware of your day-to-day emotions. 
For example, if you feel jealous of somebody, think about “what is it you have which could make the other person jealous?” The answer could be anything like your personality, attitude, or smartness. Soon, you’ll witness that you’ve stopped feeling jealous.

Similarly, if you are getting furious over something, hold yourself back for a few seconds and think:-“Is it really such a big thing to be so angry?”
Most of the time, the answer would be a “NO,” and you will calm down automatically.

All these small steps, regular practice, and consistent efforts to be mindful of emotions would help you gather complete control over them.

4. Control Stress (When It Bites the Worst!).

You know the feeling – You worked well for the whole day, and it was time for you to leave the office. Suddenly, your boss calls you and tells you there’s an urgent project that needs to be submitted today, so you need to work a few extra hours.

That sudden spike in stress level makes you feel pathetic, right?

Stress is inevitable, and we go through different stress levels in our daily routines.
You would have also observed that right after you encounter a stressful situation, there’s an immense fear, running thoughts, and constant worry.

Now you might wonder:-“Is it possible to get rid of stress forever?”

Unfortunately, it’s not.
But, you’ll be glad to know that you can control stress and avoid the stressful period from being lengthy.

Let’s keep it as an emotional wellness goal for this year.

How Can You Achieve this Goal?

Whenever there’s a problem and a stress wave strikes you, close your eyes for a few seconds, take a few deep breaths, and calm down your brain. You’ll observe that the sudden spike of stress would get controlled automatically.

Further, when you feel a bit relaxed, ask yourself:- “Is there something I can do to fix this problem?”

If the answer is yes, why take the stress? Go ahead and solve it. 
And, If the answer is no, why not just let it go? After all, you don’t have any control over it.

You can also include yoga and deep breathing exercises in your daily routine. They would help you become better at the art of controlling your brain and regulating your overall emotions too.

5. Stop Being Afraid of Taking Steps.

Have you ever had regret of not doing something that you should’ve done just because you were afraid? Afraid to make wrong decisions, fail, disappoint others, or anything else.

It hurts extremely bad, right? 

You feel that you could’ve been happier and better, but you aren’t because you were afraid to take the steps.

2023 is the year to turn things around, and it is the year for you to get above all the fears stopping you from achieving your best life.

How Can You Achieve this Goal?

Instead of whining about the opportunities you missed, look ahead at the ones you can now grab. Start doing all the things that make you feel happy and fulfilled.

Whenever you feel afraid, ask yourself:- “Do I really have anything to lose? Do I want to live my life in regrets, or do I want to live like a king?”

Start taking the chances you never took. Your actions are the only ones that can help you, nothing else.

You craft your life, and you better make it a good one.

6. Have Realistic Expectations.

Have you ever tried this – There was a project pending for the past few months. Suddenly, you woke up one day in the morning with full energy and decided to complete it on the same day.
You worked well for the whole day, but you didn’t complete even half of it.

How did it feel? Disappointing and frustrating, right?
You would’ve lost all the enthusiasm for the project as well.

But why didn’t you complete the project in one day, even when you worked so hard?

It’s just because you didn’t have a realistic expectation! 

Setting unrealistic expectations does nothing but mess up things. It kills your productivity, interest, and happiness. Further, it lowers your confidence and makes you feel you aren’t worthy of getting good things in life.

So, in the year 2023, it’s time to have a goal of creating realistic expectations for yourself so that you don’t surround yourself with hopelessness anymore.

How Can You Achieve this Goal?

Whenever you set any goals, keep your limitations in mind, and be practical. Include small breaks in your schedule so you can work efficiently.

As the saying goes:-“Good things take time.”
So, Don’t just push yourself unnecessarily. If some tasks would take a few days, it’s okay.

7. Be Social.

We, as humans, are meant to be social. 

Staying connected and surrounding ourselves with people makes us feel happy, joyous, and fulfilled. It makes us think that we are loved and cared for.

Sharing ourselves with our close ones helps us vent our feelings and relieves us from turbulent emotions.

For all introverts who don’t have anyone to listen to their hearts, it’s the right time to look for true companionship.

How Can You Achieve this Goal?

Stop wasting time waiting for others to reach out to you. Instead, reach out to them. You need to realize that you’re the one who needs companionship, not them.

You can connect with your old friends, either through call or text, whatever you find more comfortable. You just have to start conversations, and you’ll observe your past bond is back again.

Further, you can start spending time with your family as well. Yes, there might be a generation gap, but trust me, nobody understands you better than your family.

8. Look Out For a Higher Purpose.

We’ve all been given two choices in life:-

• Live life like an average person. Be a follower. And have no purpose.
• Live like a beast. Be a leader. And have a defined purpose.

If you go with the first one, being purposeless makes you wake up every day with low energy levels, follow the same routine, lack excitement, and have a constant feeling of being lost.

On the other hand, if you go with the second one, your purpose motivates you to get up from bed with excitement, you are constantly learning new things, and your life feels to have a strong direction.

Your purpose could be anything. For example, helping homeless people, contributing to animal shelters, donating food and clothes, or anything else that makes you feel you really exist!   

So, Why not go with the second option, which straightaway seems to be a better one?
Let’s add it as the eighth emotional wellness goal on the list.

How Can You Achieve this Goal?

The key to finding your purpose is to keep trying new things. Expand your knowledge, explore new horizons of life, and introduce yourself to new role models.

Search for something that provides you happiness and a sense of fulfillment. Something that makes you feel you can do it forever.

Don’t rush in the process or jump to conclusions and take your time to find the best fit for you. 

9. Goal to Stay Optimistic.

You know the best part about life? It punches you in the face often!

It isn’t easy to be positive in every situation. There are moments in life when everything seems to be moving in the wrong direction.

You question yourself, “Why only me?” and try searching for solutions, but unfortunately, you can’t find any.

It becomes even more challenging to stay optimistic when you’ve been a pessimist for most of your life. So, even when if there’s more good to something than bad, you still focus on the downsides.

Now the question arises, “Can you develop an ability to see the positive and stay hopeful when the times are difficult?”

Of course, you can!
And this year, our ninth goal is to turn you into an optimist.

How Can You Achieve this Goal?

Whenever there’s a sudden downfall in your life, forget about anyone/anything else and just focus on taking care of yourself. 

Try to uplift yourself by doing something that you love. For example, go out for a walk, enjoy your favorite music, or play some video games. It will give you an instant push to keep going.

Next, share your feelings with your close ones, which will help you unburden yourself. 

Finally, when the wave of turbulent emotions gets a bit calm, spend some time alone, and figure out the best possible reason why you’re going through this sh*t? Get back up, be full of hope and prepare to fight back.

Positivity is all in the mindset, my friend. Your perceptions can change only if you want them to change.

10. Laugh Often (There’s No Charge!).

When we were kids, even the most minor things made us happy. We guffawed for no reason, but as we grew up, that innocent laughter vanished.

In a world full of family pressures, responsibilities, expectations, and aspirations, some of us have become so serious that we’ve lost our beautiful smiles.

We don’t even realize the importance of laughter anymore. We’ve forgotten how those peals of laughter killed our stress, made us happy, and made us feel that everything was alright.

But, do you feel, “Is it even required to be so serious after all, you’ve got just one life?”

Of course, not.
So, let’s make it our emotional wellness goal of the year to bring those waves of laughter back to life again.

How Can You Achieve this Goal?

Achieving this goal is super easy! 

First of all, please stop carrying that stern face everywhere. Your smiling face makes you look magnificent.

Now, start greeting everyone with a broad smile on your face.

Whenever getting a picture clicked, make sure to flaunt your teeth. I mean, why not? you’ve got 32 of them, Right?

Try some fun activities. Spend time with your friends that make you laugh like crazy. Go out for some standup comedy shows. Take things lightly (You can even laugh out some of your small stresses).

Just get that “laughing you” back.        

11. Develop Excellent Habits.

Are you a fast-food or junk food lover? 

Unfortunately, there’s a piece of bad news for you. As per research, high-caloric foods don’t make you feel happy or alleviate a negative mood. Instead, healthy food such as fruits and vegetables do.

Along with it, several other habits can make you feel happy each day, live longer, and improve your emotional wellness. 
For example, even 10 minutes of physical activity each day could become a mood enhancer. As per Harvard, Poor sleep is linked with mood and can cause stress and irritation. Therefore, having a good amount of sleep can make you feel better and stress-free.

So, it’s time to say goodbye to all your bad habits in an EASY WAY and make your habits responsible for your healthy emotions.

How Can You Achieve this Goal?

You’ll be using the Kaizen method to attain your healthy habits goals.

First of all, let’s start with your unhealthy eating habits. 
You don’t need to cut off all your fast food or junk food in a single day. We’ll reduce it slowly.
For example, if you have a habit of eating unhealthy food thrice a day, cut it down to twice a day for three weeks. Further, cut it down to once a day for the next three weeks. In the end, you can drop it completely.

You can apply the same technique for performing physical activity each day too. Go out for a 5-minute walk for three days, then increase it to a 10-minute walk for the next three days, and you can keep it increasing until you reach your physical activity goal.

You can use this method in everything you want to accomplish that feels difficult to start.

End of the Line

“Emotions can get in your way or get you on the way.”

~ Mavis Mazhura

Your emotions shape the way you live your life. It’s your choice whether you want to be a slave or a master of them.

I am pretty sure that all the emotional goals examples that I’ve mentioned in this guide would help you kickstart your emotional wellness journey.  

Make sure to share your monthly progress in the comments section below. Share this post with your friends, and accept the challenge to become the guide to your emotions.

May you achieve wonders this year!