It is a new year, which means your local gym is probably parading with new faces, your fridge is probably filled to the brim with veggies and lean meats, in addition to all your good intentions that you’ve written for yourself on that piece of notebook paper sitting in your office.
Goals are a great thing to create. But, let’s fast forward 3 months from now—the gym seems like a distant planet and that greasy chicken finger and fries platter from that pizza shop down the street is looking mighty fine compared to that measly, depressing, salad sitting on your plate in front of you. Where do we go wrong with resolutions? Why do new years goals always fade after the first few months? How can you actually make your resolutions last all year?
The answer–never, ever quit. If you never quit you can never lose. We all struggle with keeping up with our BIG goals that we set for ourselves, but the truth is, if you are persistent, and SMART about your goals, you can fulfill your resolutions throughout the whole year. The number one thing to remember is, you are our biggest critic and your biggest brick wall and I am here to tell you, get out of your own way. When we create doubt in our minds, we convince ourselves that there is no possible way we could ever keep going with our resolution.
I’ve wrestled right along with you year-in and year-out, watching goals fly out the window and weight-loss goals tank at the site of fries and an ice cold beer that somehow multiplies in one sitting. But, I’ve discovered a method that really does work, but it requires you to be kind to yourself, and consistently intentional about your goals.
The truth about goals is that like any other accomplishment, they take hard work, determination and persistence. I’m not the biggest fan of math or science equations, but I do know that the amount of effort you put into something will be reflective of the results you get back.
Are you still with me? Are you ready to work harder and SMARTer?
The best way to set achievable goals is to be SMART. SMART goals help you achieve things faster because they are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.
Let’s dive a little deeper into how to use the SMART acronym to help you achieve all your goals for 2019. I am also using this method to help with my life both in business and personally.
As a visual example, let’s say my friend Kara wanted to gain Financial Freedom as one of her goals for the new year. Sounds like a pretty reasonable goal, but how does this goal become a SMART goal?
Let’s get Specific.
For instance, Kara’s goal of “financial freedom” could be more specific—to pay off all of her credit cards by June 2019.
- Always make sure your goals are SPECIFIC. When there are details included with your goal, it’s a quick mental reminder that you are taking all the precise steps to achieve those goals.
- Which leads me to the second step of SMART goal setting. Making sure that your goal is MEASURABLE can help you achieve your goal faster than just being vague about the achievement. You want to be able to gauge where you started and how far you’ve come.
- This one is an easy one, be honest with yourself and make sure your goal is ACHIEVABLE! Don’t set yourself up for failure. If you are unsure of what “achievable” is, ask a few friends or just simply trust yourself and know what you are capable of.
- Let your goals be RELEVANT to you, as amazing as you might be, you are not Oprah. Your goals should not be her goals! Don’t try to be someone you are not. Embrace your strengths and let them be reflected in your goals and reasonably challenge some of your weaknesses too.
- Lastly, make sure you put an end date for your goals, make them TIME-BOUND. Sometimes creating “1 year goals” is simply too long. If you want to achieve something BIG, form 4 small goals that will help you reach the bigger goal and achieve them quarterly. Kara’s goal could be to pay off all her credit cards by June 2019. However, she could say that every 2 months she would pay X amount of money to reach her end goal by June. Baby steps make a big goal more achievable, less overwhelming and hold you more accountable in shorter time frame.
What goals do you have this year? How can you make them SMART? Is self-care part of your goals this year? Share Below!
