Holiday Series: Part 3
It is unbelievable to me that we are already on the countdown to 2023! We are a short time out from that sparkly ball dropping and I am sure many of you are already thinking about those New Year’s resolutions. You have been evaluating what went well…and what didn’t go so well over the past year and I’m willing to bet some of you are in the “new year, new me” mindset…or maybe you simply want to make a positive change in your life, or work on some sort of growth.
Whatever it is that you want to do in the coming new year, I want to see you succeed, see you happy. Having goals for self-growth is always exciting. Envisioning an improved version of you, whatever that may look like for you, is exciting. So let’s make sure you are successful…and ready to make a change.
Developing Clear Goals
Writing your goals down is an important step. It gives you a visual representation of what your ultimate focus is. HOW you write those goals is also important in order to give yourself clarity and ensure you are able to attain the end result. Developing S.M.A.R.T. goals is a good way to start.
S.M.A.R.T. is an acronym which stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-specific. You can read more about developing goals in my first blog post, “Creating Your Goals & Setting yourself Up for Success”. However, in short, developing S.M.A.R.T. goals does the following:
Specific - Creates focus and defines the end result.
Measurable - Provides a measure of progress.
Attainable - Ensures you can actually reach the goal. Provides a challenge, but is also manageable.
Realistic - Considers your abilities, priorities and responsibilities, allowing you to create a goal that you can actually reach.
Time-Specific - Gives you the ability to track progress and maintain accountability toward your goal.
Are You Ready?
Throughout the development of your goal, you should also take into consideration your readiness to achieve the goal. Consider the following:
What is your “why”?
Evaluating your “why” will help motivate and drive you in times of difficulty or struggle. It will help you not only decide who you want to be, or what you want from your goal, it will also help you keep focused on action.
What are your current habits/routines? Are you willing to change them?
Think about who you are currently and what you are striving to be. Your daily habits/routines will have to be congruent with this. Consider the amount of change that will be required to alter your habits/routines to better support your goal. Ask yourself, “what are the daily behaviors I will have to commit to, to reach my goal?”. How big of a change will you have to make in order to reach your goal? Evaluating your current habits/routines allows you to be honest with yourself and consider whether or not you are ready to do the work to reach your goal. With this in mind, consider making a list of habits that will support your goal and make you more successful in reaching it. What does the person you want to be look like? What habits does that person have? Then make a list of your current habits that are not supportive of your goal, not supportive of that person you are striving to be.
Let’s consider a likely common New Year’s goal…weight loss. Say you want to lose 20 pounds. Do you have a current exercise routine? Are you sleeping in in the morning? What does your current diet look like? Maybe your current habits are sleeping in until 7:00 am, periodically taking a walk or jog, and perhaps you eat out several times a week or frequently go out for happy hour drinks. But you want to lose 20 pounds so you need to consider what that takes. The habits that would better support this goal could be waking up at 5:30 am to ensure you are at the gym to get some weightlifting and cardio in. Diet habits that could better support your weight loss goals could be only eating out once a week and cooking more at home. You may want to consider avoiding alcohol. This will all take work on your part and could feel like a big change.
Let’s be honest, change is uncomfortable, but typically required to support new goals. You will want to be honest with yourself in regards to how much change you think you can handle. What are you ready for? What are you able to maintain to make your change long-term?
Some questions to entertain…are you committed to the process of reaching your goal and the action that will be required? Are you ready to put in the work? With that said, how disciplined are you when it comes to working toward goals? Motivation will not always be high, so this is where discipline will be required.
Are you ready to be consistent?
With any goal, especially a weight loss goal, consistency is imperative. You can’t expect to reach a goal without a consistent change. If you are looking to make a lifestyle change, research has shown that a higher level of consistency leads to a greater likelihood of reaching, and maintaining a goal over a long period of time. This is especially true with weight loss.
Do you have a support system?
Making a change of any sort can be challenging and overwhelming. Changing habits and developing new routines will be required, and having a support system in place will be important.
Keeping with the weight loss goal example above, support may look like having a coach to guide you and be accountable to. Or perhaps a buddy, or a trainer at the gym. Having some sort of accountability is always helpful.
What is your plan?
Regardless of what your goal is, having a plan will give you structure as well as a calculated road map on what you need to do to reach your goal. Taking the time to make a plan will not only help you determine if your goal is realistic, but it will also help you forge those new habits/routines you will need to put in place.
Now Get Yourself Started!
When it comes to making goals, you want to be sure they are well thought out with a solid plan. This way you are able to identify your readiness, keep yourself focused, and increase your likelihood of successfully reaching your goal. If you look at the studies completed over the years, a high percentage of Americans who make New Year’s resolutions fail. I feel this is primarily due in part to not truly evaluating what it will take to reach those goals, including considering one’s readiness for change. We are so full of wants and desires for ourselves, yet oftentimes lack the actual planning and recognition of change that will be required, as well as the discipline, consistency and support that will also be needed. You need to have a realistic expectation of what your journey toward your goals looks like and be honest with yourself in what you are willing and capable of doing.
Self-growth and recognition of potential improvement in your life can be exciting! What is most important however, is taking the time to thoughtfully create a goal and a plan to get there. Whether it’s improved health, fitness or growth in some other aspect of your life, be sure to set yourself up for success!