Now that the tide of incessant and meaningless social media posts on things that people want to do in the new year has died down, it’s worth reflecting on how you can achieve your goals. Too often, I see goals like “I want to lose weight” or “I want to learn a new language”, which are vague and not actionable. Perhaps they were serious, or maybe they had no intention of following up on it in two weeks’ time just saying it for the sake of soliciting virtual encouragement from people they hardly know.
Regardless of the motivations for making empty promises based on coincidental calendar events, online marketers take it very seriously. Just after the countdown ends, the wave of advertisements for online courses and fitness centers begin. There’s even one that says something to the effect of: “Attain your goal, join X fitness company.” People will sign up for whole year subscriptions and give up before Easter.
Here are a few tips on how to make your goals actionable from the SMART goals framework:
- Specific: Avoid vagueness, instead of saying “be a better person” use something to the effect of “volunteer 10 hours a month”.
- Measurable: Make sure that you can come back to the goal regularly and map your progress. Instead of saying “lose some weight” state how much weight you would like to lose e.g. “lose 20 pounds by August”.
- Achievable: Be realistic about what you will do, you are more likely to achieve a realistic goal. Instead of aiming to be “faster than Usain Bolt”, target to “sprint 100m in less than 12 seconds”.
- Relevant: Be results-oriented for your goal. If you are pregnant, instead of aiming to “wear a size 2 dress” try to “eat a balanced diet as suggested by my doctor”.
- Time-bound: Set a target date of completion and plan progressively. Don’t just leave your goal out in the sun, have a year end review on December 31st to see how well you performed.
On the note of that last tip, if we had new year’s resolutions, surely we must all post about our year end review? If not, get a friend to keep you accountable to your word, a little encouragement goes a long way.
(Photo captured from a facebook ad.)
