We all love to make resolutions, yet it seems very few of us actually stick to them. Did you know that January 17th is “Ditch Your Resolution Day”? This is because most people don’t even make it past the 17th of January before they give up on their goal.
But this is not you! Not this year! With a SMARTER goal plan, you are going to make a resolution and, by golly, you are going to stick to it this year.
Don’t believe me? Simply follow these steps and watch your resolution come into fruition:
Specific
In order to achieve your resolution, you need a goal that is simple and precise. Simply saying “I want to lose weight” is not specific enough. How much weight do you want to lose? Do you want to lose it off your arms? Your thighs? Your bum?
When you set out to create a goal, you have to consider what exactly it is you want to accomplish. Otherwise, you may get distracted and lose track of what it is you are trying to achieve.
Measurable
To know if you have reached your goal means you need to decide on something measurable. Going back to the example of losing weight, you need to come up with an end goal. Are you looking to lose 10 pounds? 20 pounds?
If you don’t set up a goal that is measurable, you will never know if you are making progress or when you have reached it.
Action Focused
Throwing“I want to lose weight” into the ether is not going to help you reach your goal. Knowing the actions to take to lose weight will ensure that your goal is met. Are you going to change your diet? Join a gym? Drink 8 glasses of water every day?
Being action focused means that you know what actions are required in order to reach your goal.
Relevant
If your goal is not important to you, then why would you bother working toward it? A lot of times we proclaim to have a New Year’s resolution simply because everyone else seems to. We can easily say “I want to lose weight” but, if we don’t really care about our weight, then it is a waste of time.
Make sure your goal is important and relevant. It could be that looking good is important to you or that being healthy is a priority. Whatever the reason, be sure to have one.
Time Specific
The point of a New Year’s resolution is to reach a goal within a year.However, you are completely at liberty to set an earlier end date or assign several dates along the way. For example, losing 25 pounds in a year is doable, but you may want to break that down into losing 10pounds in 4 months and then reevaluating.
Setting a specific time to reach your goal is necessary in keeping your goal on track. Allowing yourself too much time may lead to distraction but too little time may cause disappointment when the goal is not met.
Exciting and Enjoyable
If losing weight means starving yourself on rabbit food and sweating your butt off at the gym, you are likely not going to do it. However,if your focus is on simply moving more and getting outside to walk,you are more likely to continue.
When you don’t enjoy working toward your goal, and your not excited to do it, you are not going to maintain focus on achieving it. While choosing a goal, find ways to make the journey exciting and enjoyable.
Revise
Nobody is perfect and at some point you may find yourself getting off track with your resolution. Before you even start working toward your goal,come up with a back-up plan or revision plan should you lose focus and go astray.
For example, if you are working to lose weight yet fear that you may fall into the pit of unhealthy comfort foods, come up with a list of healthy alternatives or schedule a cheat day to satisfy your cravings.
Be prepared to hit some bumps in the road, but don’t give up! Whatever course you take to achieve your goal can be revised to suite your needs.
