Goal Setting!

Happy New Year to you and yours! I love the feelings of hope and possibility that fill our souls when we turn we the page and enter a brand new year. We can forgive ourselves, move forward, and look to the future. We dream and think of what this year could bring us. Most Americans set a New Year’s Resolution. Things like “I’m going to spend more time with my family,” “I’m going to be more successful,” I’m going to lose weight,” are heard round the social media stratosphere. But you know what you don’t hear or read? How those resolutions will be ACCOMPLISHED!

I once heard a quote that was something along the lines of this: Having a goal without a plan is like taking a cross country trip without a map. HOW will you lose weight? What do you need to change in order to spend time with your family? How do you define “more successful”? If you don’t ask yourself these questions, there will be no plan. If there is no plan, will you end up where you want to? Maybe. Maybe not.

So what does this mean? Don’t have hopes and dreams for the New Year? NO!!! Instead of making a resolution, this year I challenge you to set a GOAL! A goal will help you to develop a PLAN that will get you from point A to point B. Failing to plan is planning to fail. If you want to lose weight, put a number on your goal. If you want to be more financially stable, ask yourself what that means you need to accomplish!

Ever heard of SMART goals? Many of you have. If not, S.M.A.R.T. stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-oriented. If your goals are not all of these things, they aren’t worded to set you up for success!

Here’s an example. I will lose 20 pounds by June 1, 2014.
Why is this a good goal? One, it is specific. There is a number of pounds clearly stated. Two, you can measure your weight on a scale. Three, 20 pounds in about 6 months is under 4 pounds a month - that is attainable AND realistic. Lastly, it is time oriented. You want to accomplish this goal by the first month of summer.

Another thing about that goal that I’d like to draw attention to: the words “I will.” It doesn’t say “I’ll try to” or “I could.” You need to believe in your head that you are already going to accomplish it!
These tips are going to help you set your 2014 GOALS and help you to remove the word resolution from your mind! I challenge you to write TEN GOALS you have for yourself for this year. Make them big. Write them as if the stars would remain in perfect alignment each day for the next 12 months. Share them with someone close to you and hang them on your mirror. Look at them. Work toward them. Make a plan. Make it happen!

Happy New Year!!