Wishing everyone out there a happy new year 2019. Hoping 2018 was a great year for you and if it wasn't here comes 2019 to make it all better.
This year I decided to reflect not on what I accomplished or did not accomplish during 2018 but what I want to accomplish generally in my life. This year I do not want to limit my goal for a mere new year's resolution, however the blessing of being able to celebrate one more trip around the sun in this beautiful planet we call earth makes the perfect occasion to start on a clean slate.
So browsing around came to find that there is a system for goal setting called SMART (specific, measureable, attainable, realistic, timely) so to me these were one to many terms and actions for me to plan myself although very important terms I tried to utilize the most important ones.
Be specific one of the most important steps why? I will give you an example; I want to lose weight vs. I want to lose 20lbs. So one of the most sought after new year resolution lose weight but normally we start the year buying of meal portion bowls, all veggie grocery shopping, taking home salads for lunch break, downloading step count app, etc. By mid april we are back to the fast food burger lunch and 3pm soda as a pick me up. Being specific will help guide you onto a definite goal, losing weight is so general of an idea that is basically a dream. When you propose losing x quantity of pounds believe me it will make those meal portion bowls an investment instead of a waste a money.
Realistic, yup I jumped straight to realistic. Even though measurable and attainable are important to keep in mind in planning your goals I figured realistic summarized (in my case) the measurement and attainability. Am I really going to lose 20lbs this year? Here I like to focus on possible road blocks maybe an upcoming vacation that is going to throw off my meal planning, A rough season at work that will throw off my working out schedule. In visualizing the road blocks I will be able to know if my goal is realistic. So let's do another example, renovate my kitchen. Is it something that I can attain of course is it something that I am going to attain this year? No. Kitchen renovation takes up budget, budget that I do not have however I can plan this year the budgeting of savings so that in 1 or 2 years this can become a more realistic goal.
Lastly timing. Timing is crucial in goal setting how else are you going to make yourself accountable? By june I will lose 20lbs. Now you pressed yourself that by june you will have a 20lbs less beach body. And trust me for me this is the most important part, as a professional procrastinator this part helps me keep accountability with myself and align myself to stick to my plan to get there.
There you have it folks my personal use of the SMART system. As I always say it is not necessary for you to stick to something black and white, you can make it your'e own as I did with SMART. Have fun in this year goal planning and Happy 2019!!
