There is something about starting a new year that leads a lot of people to want to create resolutions. Forbes Health polled 1000 people and found that the top New Year’s Resolutions for 2024 were improved fitness (48%), improved finances (38%), followed by improved mental health (36%)*.
Have you ever made a goal? Did you succeed? Forbes found that 3.74 months was the average time that a resolution lasted. Wow, just under 4 months, by April most resolutions have ended. They didn’t say if these goals were achieved by then, just that they ended.
If you want to create a goal, how can you set yourself up for the best possible result? Choose S.M.A.R.T. goals. The idea behind SMART goals was created by George Doran, Arthur Miller and James Cunningham. Their purpose was to help organizations create objectives that were understandable and meaningful for managers. Ultimately, they give corporations and businesses a sense of direction.
Here is the original acronym:
S – specific – an area of improvement
M – Measurable – is their some way to indicate improvement?
A – assignable – who will be assigned to do it?
R – Realistic – do we possess the resources to achieve this goal and is this relevant to our goal?
T – Time related – when do we hope to have this result achieved?
Forty-two years later and this structure for creating goals or objectives can still be useful. When making personal resolutions or goals, ask yourself, Is this a SMART goal for me?
S – Is my goal specific to an area I want to improve?
M – Can I measure my progress along the way?
A – Is this achievable/attainable based on my current resources?
R – Is my goal realistic and relevant to what I want to achieve?
T – Have a set a time that I hope to reach the goal?
Having a resolution to get fit, save money or improve my mental health is a good objective. Goals are the steps that you make towards those objectives.
For example:
Objective – Improve fitness
Goal – I will walk 30 minutes, 3 times a week by February 1st.
SMART goals can get us only so far. As you are creating your goals, think about your motivations, small steps that lead to big change, and what you will do when you lapse and lose your footing.
Motivation – Why are you setting this goal? What is the driving force behind you completing this goal? What will help you keep going when it gets hard or your improvement starts to plateau?
Small steps – It’s good to have the ultimate goal, but create small steps to celebrate your success along the way. For example, to build to 30 minutes walk, start by focusing on 2-5 minutes walks, 2-3 times a week. Small steps can help keep you motivated. Think of small steps as short-term goals and the big goal as your long term goal. Remember “Rome wasn’t build in a day”.
Lapses happen – Have you ever set a goal like lose 20 pounds, stop smoking or speak up more in class, and things start off well and then we lapse! There I said the word, “lapse”. Some people don’t like the word lapse because it brings up the idea of failure.
However, lapse is what happens when we are triggered by something and we lose our balance. We set a SMART goal, take small steps, but something happens and we lose our emotional balance. What do we do? Well, when I’ve slipped on the ice, I might have tears, feel pain, but I find a way to get up and keep moving. I learn from the experience (shiny spots in the snow might be black ice), and I might alter my plans (I might need to rest and not continue my walk today), I might need to ask for someone’s help.
‘Tis the season for people to make resolutions, if you are thinking of making a goal for this year, focus on SMART goals, identify your motivation, create smaller steps to success and give yourself some compassion if you lapse.
*https://www.forbes.com/health/mind/new-years-resolutions-statistics
