Thinking about the New Year
2009 starts the day after tomorrow. How will you make it your best year yet?
To get different results you have to do things differently. That’s why New Year’s resolutions probably won’t help much. They’re just weak statements with no support to help you change behavior.
Goals work better. There are hundreds of books, articles and motivational speakers telling you how to set good goals. Many of them use the acronym SMART.
A professor at DePaul University examined web sites that used that acronym for goal setting. There were enough different meanings to form several thousand versions of the SMART acronym.
Here’s my pick of the lot. If you want to change some of the letters, that’s fine. The purpose of using an acronym is to give you a quick way to test your goal against the research on what makes an effective goal.
Make your goal Specific. Be specific about what you want to achieve and how you’re going to measure it. Set a deadline.
Make your goal Meaningful. Set goals that matter to you, ones whose achievement will have an impact on your life. As one of my clients says, “Make it a dragon worth slaying.”
Make your goal Achievable. The best goals require some effort, but not too much. You’re likely to give up on goals that are too hard. Limit the number of goals you’re working on at any one time. More than four is too many. Three is better. Two is better yet. One is best.
Remind yourself of your goal frequently. Tell others about your goal and how you’re progressing. Use your social support system to help you achieve your goal.
Make your goal Trackable. Break your progress into milestones that lead to your big achievement. Reward yourself for achieving each milestone. That will help you maintain momentum.
If you want to make 2009 your best year yet, goals can help. Make them SMART. Then use them as guides to action.