Now that the new year is here, it’s a great time to reflect on the past and plan goals for the upcoming year. It’s often easy to start strong but end up losing motivation as the year goes on and your busy, everyday life gets in the way.
The secret to setting and achieving your new year’s resolutions is to think SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely. The SMART goals method allows you to set clear, attainable goals and maintain the motivation to achieve them.
Specific
Starting broadly, think about what you want to achieve and why. Many people use the new year to set health and fitness goals. Take time to go more in-depth than just ‘getting fit’ or ‘eating healthy’. You may want to increase your cardiovascular fitness to enjoy more family hikes or focus on eating more home-grown vegetables from your garden in your evening meals.
Measurable
From shaving a few minutes off your 10k run time to setting new personal bests in the gym, pick a challenge that has a clear way to show you have achieved it. Choosing a measurable goal helps to track your progress and meet deadlines.
Achievable
As tempting as it is to think big, it’s far more rewarding to pick a target that is a slight stretch and achieve it. Your feel-good hormone dopamine kicks in and rewards you with a boost of motivation and happiness for your accomplishments. Remember, you can always set and achieve multiple smaller goals along the way.
Relevant
How does this goal fit into your lifestyle? You will find it easier to achieve goals that fit into your life and other bigger objectives you want to achieve. Your goals should be personal so take time to reflect and ensure your goals truly matter to you.
Timely
When will you achieve this? Setting a timeline keeps you accountable and on track to smash your goals. It’s a good idea to check in and monitor your progress as time goes on, making sure everyday life hasn’t taken over.
Life is full of surprises and challenges that may change your goals - that’s okay. Learning and readjusting is a valuable part of growing, so don’t get disheartened!
Reflect on the barriers in the way of meeting your goal, how the plan changes, and what different approach you can use next time. Then, keep practicing and try again.
When you do achieve your goals, use your sense of accomplishment to further encourage your healthy habits so that you can be proud of your progress and keep feeling good in the coming years.
