Do you make New Year’s resolutions? Or, do you sit down at the beginning of the year and write out goals for yourself? I have not been very good the past few years about setting SMART goals for myself (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, timely), but I’d like to do better this year!
I’m starting a new mini-series here at Feathers in Our Nest to help me (and you, hopefully!) break down some larger goals into attainable steps.
When you set SMART goals, you first need to make sure that they are specific. Don’t set a goal like “read more books”; instead say, “read 10 books this year.” This will help you with the next point, which is…
Your goals need to be measurable. You can measure how many miles you run each week, but you can’t necessarily measure “exercise more.” Set goals that you can evaluate weekly or monthly to be sure you are staying on track with the vision you have set.
The third aspect of SMART goals is that they are attainable. Don’t set a goal that is for someone else (i.e. “get my husband to help out around the house more.”). Your goals should be attainable by you. They also shouldn’t be so difficult to accomplish that you get discouraged. Which leads to…
Your goals also should be realistic. If you are a total couch potato, then setting a goal to run a marathon by March probably isn’t the most realistic goal. On the other hand, don’t be afraid to challenge yourself! Just be realistic about your goal-setting so that you don’t give up.
Finally, your goals should be timely. A vague goal of “someday write a book” isn’t actually going to help you out. Don’t be afraid to set deadlines for yourself.
So, to kick off this new series, I want to ask you…
-what was/were your New Year’s Resolution(s)?
-what goals do you have for yourself in this coming year?
-what would you like to do this year that you’ve never done before?
I have some ideas for posts for the next few weeks, but I’d love to target them specifically to what you’d like to read about! If I don’t know how to do it, I’ll find the answer somewhere!
Stay tuned for the first post in the series coming later today!
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