Happy New Year!
It’s the time of the year that we start anew with a clean slate. Making resolutions is easy, but keeping them is the hard part. My gym is usually packed in January but back to normal by Valentine’s Day. So how do you make the changes you want to make in your life? Make SMART goals.
Sensible. Ask yourself what you’re going to do, why you’re doing it, and how you’re going to do it. Instead of saying I want to lose weight, get specific and say, “I want to lose 20 pounds.” If you want to save money, get specific with a certain amount.
Measurable. Goals should be measurable. Don’t say you want to lose weight. Be specific. How much weight do you want to lose? How much money do you want to save? How many days a week are you cooking at home? How many times a week are you going to do cardio and strength training?
Attainable. Are your goals realistic? Is this something you can accomplish? How can you stretch yourself to reach your goals? If you’re a couch potato and want to climb the Himalayas this year, you need to scale down your goal to becoming physically active first. If you set an unattainable goal, you’ll set yourself up for failure.
Reward. Usually SMART goals use the words relevant or realistic for this section. For our purposes, we’ll use Reward. What reward are you giving yourself for accomplishing your short-term and long-term goals? Some rewards that work for me are massages, pedicures, dark chocolate, or a lovely dinner. What motivates you?
Timely. Set short-term deadlines for yourself and put them on your calendar. How much money do you want to save or how much weight do you want to lose by the end of February?
By setting SMART goals, you will accomplish your resolutions. Make 2009 your year.
