Before any resolutions can be made there is something that must be done first; reflecting on the year that has passed. This is such an important step that so many people often ignore or forget at the beginning of each year. In your reflections take time to look at:
- what worked for you in the past year and what didn't
- was your time allocated to the slices of your life that you wanted most
- did you achieve your goals for the year
- what would you like to change going forward
All these reflections give us insight and set the blueprint for the goals for our upcoming year. Without them our resolutions won't hold the same strength and be much harder to achieve.
Even though I use it from time to time, I don't like the term resolution. To me it is whimsical and fluffy often made with little to no thought minutes before midnight on New Years Eve. I propose instead of making resolutions we should be making goals or objectives for our New Year.
The first step to goal setting is reflecting, as I stated above. Because lets face it, how are you going to set goals that set in motion change in your life if you don't know what it is you are going to change? After that follow the SMART principles of goal setting and you shall be fine.
S - Specific
M - Measurable
A - Attainable
R - Realistic
T - Time Bound
Instead of setting a resolution like "I want to be healthier" or "I want to lose weight" the SMART principles will help you set a goal with a plan in place. Make your goal more specific with something that can be measured. For instance, "I want to lose weight by working out 3 times a week".
When setting this goal make sure it is not only attainable but realistic. If you can barely remember the last time you worked out, setting a goal of working out everyday is not very realistic or attainable. Setting goals like this are only setting ourselves up for failure.
Finally, no one says your goal needs to be a year long endeavour. Something that is much achievable is make it a 3 or 4 month goal. This shorter timeline is no only much less daunting, but it allows you to build momentum throughout your year.
Even though it is almost 2 weeks into the New Year, take some time and set yourself up for success; reflect then resolve. No one said your resolutions had to start on January 1st ;)
Did You Enjoy This Blog? Get all my posts delivered FREE to your email!