Goal Setting Done Right

So, here you are at the dawn of a New Year (I am till in poetic mode after my Shakespeare impersonation).  You have decided it’s time to do something about those ……… (fill in the blanks such as extra 20 lbs., cigarettes, sodas) and you are determined to change. You were a little reluctant because those goals seem to repeat themselves year after year. You start off great, and then you fall off.

Setting goals is great but there is a way to increase the odds of you actually achieving them, and here are some tips:

1.       Write them down and divide them into a long-term (eg. I want to lose 20 lbs. in 6 months) and short-term goals (eg. I want to lose 5 lbs in the first month by walking every day for a total of 20 minutes and decreasing my caloric intake by replacing my afternoon super-size double chocolate thingamajig with a small single chocolate thingamajig).

2.       Share your goals with others, and if I were you, don’t share them with your significant other as this can cause problems beyond the ones you have already ;-). A personal trainer or wellness coach would be an excellent choice.

3.       Tape the goals where you can see them every day. You can even write a subset of them on your daily to-do list if you do such a thing to keep them present in your awareness.

4.       Identify potential barriers and think through strategies how to offset them. For example, where will you walk when it rains so that you cannot go to a park? Is there a mall? Do you have access to a treadmill? Are you getting bored? Have you tried listening to music or a recorded book (my personal favorite)? Do you have a party coming up where thingamajigs will abound?

5.       Track your progress. After a week or two, review what went right and what was difficult. Adjust your short-term plan as necessary. Rather walking every day for 20 minutes, maybe it’s better for you to walk only 5 times per week for 30 minutes each.

Studies have shown that good goal setting can make or break the deal whether you will reach your goal or not. And you do not have to wait for the New Year’s Day to make a resolution. Changing the way you have done things for a long time requires commitment and vigilance. The old habits have not served you well; they have led you to where you are right now.

So try to be SMART as you set your goals.

S pecfic

M easurable

A ttainable

R ealistic

T imely

Happy New Year!

The BIG Question of Making Resolutions

To make or not to make – that is the question:

Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous portion

Or to take up arms against a sea of gobbles,

And, by opposing, end them.

Oh Shakespeare, please forgive me.

‘Tis this time of year again. And the question in many minds is whether or not to make a New Year’s Resolution. The biggest argument I hear against it that people know that they will not be sticking to it anyway, so why bother making them in the first place.

Well, that’s one way of looking at it. It is always easy to live up to no expectation at all. If you have not set yourself a goal, you cannot fail at it. And who wants to be a failure ……

I have a favorite quote from one of the most remarkable men who ever lived, Michelangelo. He said “The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.”

With the New Year approaching, I’ll leave you to ponder the question of where you want to set your aim.