New Year, New Goals - How to set resolutions for the new year
Welcome to the new year! Regardless of how your previous year was, a new year is the best time to improve your personal and business life. You have the opportunity to reflect on the previous year allowing you to show gratitude for wins and lessons learned, identify what things you didn't like about the year so you can avoid them in the new year.
Another important part of the new year is setting goals for the 12 months that are ahead. You need to set SMART goals and you need to look at them daily.
We will discuss what SMART goals are and ways that you can remind yourself daily of your goals.
What Are SMART Goals?
SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-based goals.
Specific
Target a specific area for improvement.
It's important to have a specific goal so you know exactly what you are working towards. Improving specific metrics will give you a clear target for success.
For example, if your goal is to be in better shape then setting the goal of "working out" is too broad and not specific enough. Instead, you could say, "I will walk at least 30 minutes per day, 4 times per week,", "I will lose 20lbs before the summer", or "I will do 50 pushups without stopping".
Measurable
There needs to be a metric that you can measure your progress against.
Having a measurable goal allows you to see your progress and will help motivate you along the way. You should always take measurements at the end of each week or month to determine if you are trending towards success or failure with your goal.
In the example above, walking at least 30 minutes per day, 4 times per week, is easy to measure.
You can use fitness trackers such as Apple Watches or FitBits to track your walking exercises.
Attainable
You need to set goals that you can actually achieve.
For example, if you have never worked out before it would be hard to set a goal of working out 5 days per week for an hour a day because this could cause injury and will be difficult to maintain the commitment.
Setting attainable goals helps keep you motivated knowing that your immediate goals are not out of your reach.
Relevant
Your goals need to matter to you.
If your goal isn't meaningful, then the chances of sticking with it are unlikely.
This doesn't mean that goals have to be always fun or exciting things like travel, concerts, etc., but if they don't make you happy, align with your values, or get you closer to achieving your other goals, then you probably need to ignore them.
Think about your reason behind what you want to achieve, by focusing on your why you are more likely to stick with it!
Time-Based
Your goals should have an end date or timeframe.
If your goal doesn't have a deadline, then there isn't much reason to work towards it.
Since our schedule fills up quickly and things come up often, setting an end date will help keep you on track so other pressing needs don't interfere with achieving your goals.
How To Stay On Track With Your Goals
The worst thing you can do is set goals and forget about them.
You need to write down your goals, put them somewhere visible where you will see them every day. Also, find ways to remind yourself of what you are working for so it becomes a priority in your life.
There are several apps that help keep you accountable throughout the day, week, or month, and remind you of your goals.
Fitness Trackers
Fitness trackers are great for most fitness and health-related goals. They can remind you if you haven't hit your fitness goal, and are especially good if you set daily exercise goals like doing a specific or any exercise for a certain amount of time. They also help to track other things like your resting pulse, heart rate, and overall activity levels that you can conveniently review on an app so you can see your progress.
Calendar Apps
You can use calendar apps like Google Calendar and Outlook to schedule what you need to do to attain your goal and schedule progress check-ins. They will also ping and email you with notifications constantly reminding you of the goals you set.
Reminder, Alarms, and Task Apps
Reminder and Task Apps are great for this, especially if they have notifications that will ping you constantly until you complete the task.
Alarms are great because you can set a recurring alarm when you start the day with your goal as the name. For example, every morning at 7 AM you could title your alarm "Walk for 30 Minutes Per Day" to remind you to add a 30 minute walk to your day before it starts.
Pen and Paper
If you're not into using a high-tech solution, then just keep a notebook and write down your goals.
You can create a calendar on paper and physically mark off the days you completed a step to your goal. This works especially well with goals that require repetitive action to achieve.
