We’re always thinking about goals, whether creating new goals, working toward them, tearing them down, and starting over. As we approach the new year, each one of us is setting aside time to plan for success in 2020. On the next page, you’ll find the principals we look to in setting up goals that are going to put us on the track towards success long term. We hope you find them helpful as you make your own plans for the upcoming year.
Here’s to you and your success in 2020. May it be a year of challenges, changes, growth, and joy.
Eli & Team
Pick the Right Resolution
The fact is, one third of resolutioners don’t take it past the end of January.
A lot of these resolutions fail because they’re not the right resolutions. And a resolution may be wrong for one of three main reasons:
It’s a resolution created based on what someone else (or society) is telling you to change.
It’s too vague.
You don’t have a realistic plan for achieving your resolution.
Your goals should be smart — and SMART. That’s an acronym coined in the journal Management Review in 1981 for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.
Specific. Your resolution should be absolutely clear. Making a concrete goal is really important rather than just vaguely saying ‘I want to lose weight.’ You want to have a goal: How much weight do you want to lose and at what time interval?
Measurable. This may seem obvious if your goal is a fitness or weight loss related one, but it’s also important if you’re trying to cut back on something, too. Logging progress into a journal or making notes on your phone or in an app designed to help you track behaviors can reinforce the progress, no matter what your resolution may be.
Achievable. This doesn’t mean that you can’t have big stretch goals. But trying to take too big a step too fast can leave you frustrated, or affect other areas of your life to the point that your resolution takes over your life — and both you and your friends and family flail.
Relevant. Is this a goal that really matters to you, and are you making it for the right reasons? If you do it out of the sense of self-hate or remorse or a strong passion in that moment, it doesn’t usually last long.
Time-bound. Like “achievable,” the timeline toward reaching your goal should be realistic, too. That means giving yourself enough time to do it with lots of smaller intermediate goals set up along the way. Focus on these small wins so you can make gradual progress
From: https://www.nytimes.com/guides/smarterliving/resolution-ideas