December is coming to a close very very soon. Less than 5 days in fact.
I hope you have already started working on your 2014 goals. Because January 1st I plan to hit the ground running.
But as prepared as you can be there is still a pitfall that many professionals run into all the time when they set goals.
They set goals that are unattainable.
Let’s take exercise for example. That is the most popular new year goal as I understand it.
People say they want to “lose weight” this year. How much weight? By when? Doing what? For what reason?
“I want to lose weight” is not a SMART goal. And because of that it will be impossible to hit.
However someone who has a weight loss goal of “I want to lose 15 pounds by May 1st so I can fit into my favorite bikini”.
Now THAT is a SMART goal. it’s specific measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound.
I ran into this when I started working on my goals for 2014. specifically about how much I want to read this year. I love reading and with everything going on in my life haven’t been reading as much as I’d like. So I am going to make it an automatic part of my routine next year.
I had pledged to read for 2 hours a day every work week for the entire year. And the more I thought about it that sounded, to me, something that would be all but impossible for me to do.
I’m too busy right now to make that happen until the end of the night, and by then it would be a matter of sleep fighting against my reading.
So I changed it up a bit. Instead of 2 hours a day I want to read for 10 hours a week. That means I can miss a day and be able to catch up with another day, or I could have a beautiful Saturday on the beach and spend it all reading a new book getting ahead.
Ass I did was add flexibility without sacrificing the core of the goal.
As you are developing your 2014 goals be sure to apply the SMART principles to them. It is an excellent way to give your self a better chance at succeeding in them.
~ Johnny Bravo
Image courtesy of Surachai / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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