Happy New Year! With a brand new year comes New Year's resolutions. A New Year's resolution is a goal some people set to achieve for the new year. It's something that you want to do differently about yourself such as kicking a bad habit, being more considerate of others, reducing stress, or making new friends. A lot of people have trouble achieving their goals because they aren't motivated enough. It's easy to set goals for yourself, but the action has to come from you. After 2 long weeks of winter break, we're all still pretty lazy. There are three tips that motivational speakers and personal trainers suggest to set successful goals.
Tip 1: Your goal must follow the SMART format
If your goal doesn't follow the SMART format, then you don't have a well planned goal. It's not a stupid goal per say; it's an unsuccessful goal. I'm going to use my resolution as a guide.
S - Specific
What is your goal? State is clearly. "Getting fit" or "Exercising more" aren't specific. My goal is to exercise for 40 minutes everyday.
M - Measurable
A lot of people confuse 'measurable' with time framed. But there's a slight difference; measurable is how much of your goal you want to do. You're measuring your progress. For example "40 minutes for 7 days a week" is a measure.
A - Attainable
What are ways of achieving your goal? Let's say you want to lose weight. Some ways of achieving this goal are to exercise daily, hiring a personal trainer, watching what you eat, joining a sports team, etc. One thing I can do to achieve my goal is to set up a specific time to exercise. On weekdays, I can exercise when I get home from school.
R - Realistic
How do-able is your goal? Give yourself some reasons why you can achieve your goal. Maybe you're very motivated, or you're always focused on your goals. These are some good reasons. My reasons are "Currently, I exercise 25 minutes everyday so exercising for another 15 minutes isn't tough" and "I'm athletic and I don't get tired easily."
T - Time framed
If it's a short term goal, when do you want to achieve this goal by? If it's a long term goal, how long do you want to keep your goal going for? The time frame must be specific or the goal will be too vague and you'll feel it's not as important as other things in your life. On your calendar, mark when you want to achieve this goal by. This is a good way of keeping you focused and motivated. I want to keep my goal going for the whole year. But I want to try it for 1 week first and see how that goes.
Tip 2: Break down large goals into smaller goals.
Smaller goals are like stepping stones to larger goals. Imagine you're climbing a ladder to achieve a large goal--the ladder of success. Every bar of the ladder is a small goal that you have to complete in order to accomplish the large goal.
Or you can create a "goal web" like the one below:
Tip 3: Managing time to achieve your goals
I know that "Time Framed" in already included in the SMART format. But that's still not enough. Some people have trouble remembering their goals. When the new year starts, we'll be at school and loaded with work. This can easily make us forget our vows, or get too distracted from them. So make time to achieve your goals in your agendas or planners. If you have more than 1 goal, plan your priorities on order.
If you don't know what your resolution is yet, try looking at some popular resolutions. The Top 10 New Year's Resolutions are:
10. Get Organized
9. Help Others
8. Learn Something New
7. Get Out of Debt / Save Money
6. Quit Drinking
5. Enjoy Life More & Reduce Stress
4. Quit Smoking
3. Lose Weight & Pay More Attention to Food
2. Fit in Fitness
1. Spend More Time with Family & Friends
Remember, these are just tips to help you plan a successful goal. You have to motivate yourself to actually do them. I know we've all been lazy from the Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah and New Year's partying. But it's better to start doing your goal before school starts because you'll be used to the routine of having to do a goal.
Now I'm going off to exercise!
holiday50
Author's Note: Sources:
http://pittsburgh.about.com/od/holidays/tp/resolutions.htm
http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/New_Years_Resolutions.shtml
http://www.goal-setting-guide.com/smart-goals.html
