Making the Decision to Make Over Your Life
No More New Year Resolutions
Now that the year 2014 has passed, have you evaluated your 2014 New Year Resolutions? Have you accomplished your 2014 New Year Resolutions you promised yourself last year? If you’re like me, I would make the same New Year Resolutions year after and year and never achieve them. I would make the same promises to myself and never make good on those promises. I had to come to the realization that creating New Year Resolution at the beginning of the year does not work for me. At the beginning of each year I would sit down with a cup of coffee and create a list of things I would like to achieve before the end of the year. Two years ago I realized that I was making the same set of resolutions year after year. I had to tell myself no more resolutions. I realized that setting goals for me was more practical and conducive to achieving the goals I’ve set for my life. Establishing goals help achieve the things you wanted for your desirous lifestyle!
Goal setting helps to develop a plan to achieve your desired endeavors. I like using the mnemonic acronym SMART which stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound. The first step is to identify what you would like to accomplish in your life, so you need to be specific. For some people their goal may be to learn a foreign language or to travel to different countries. For others it may be to climb the heights of Mount Rushmore or cure the common cold. Whatever the goal is, it must start with a desire to do something different in your life.
Once you have identified your desired goal, determine if your goals are measurable. For instance, if your goal is to learn a foreign language how will you be able to determine if you are on the right track? Some of the things to consider are to first take charge of your own learning objectives. Make sure that the program you are using will help you meet your desired goal. Throughout various stages of reaching your goals, evaluate your progress and make adjustments if necessary.
Another factor in goal setting is to make sure that your goals are attainable. Make sure your goals are realistic and achievable. For instance, it may be hard to achieve a goal to be a Rocket Scientist and you don’t like Science or problem solving. Or being a pastry maker and you don’t like to bake. It is important to understand that your goals must be something that you have an interest in and be able to achieve the tasks necessary to obtain the desired goals.
Your goals must be relevant to you! It is important to determine if your goals matter. For instance, a security guard’s goal to “Make 75 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches by 2 pm today” may be specific, measurable, attainable and time-bound but it lacks relevance. When determining whether a goal is relevant, ask yourself: Does it seem worthwhile? Is it the right time to start setting this goal? Does this goal match other efforts or needs? Are you the right person to achieve the desired goal? Is the desired goal applicable in the current socio-economic environment? This is why it is so important to research your desired goals and decide if it’s worthwhile for you to pursue.
The time-bound criterion stresses the importance of giving your goals a time line on specific goals to aid in completing goals in a timely manner. Some goals will require various tasks to be completed during a certain time. For instance, if your goal is to graduate from college May of 2015, you may be required to complete required courses before graduating and reaching your desired goals.
Setting goals is the best process towards achieving life’s accomplishments. Using the SMART method helps to design the various actions necessary to complete desired goals and stimulate the need to research the desired goals and create a plan of action that will bring you closer to turning your dreams into reality!
