Making new years resolutions
This week marks the first week of 2022! Although new years brings around new years resolutions which many of us set for ourselves, this post will be more focused on setting achievable targets and goals which is applicable at any point in the year - there is no pressure to set yourself goals at the new year if that's not what you want or need. The key to sticking to goals is making effective goals and targets, and this blog post will discuss two ways to do that: SMART targets and making a goal hierarchy.
SMART Targets
This is essentially a criteria to help you create goals that are specific enough to work effectively and consistently towards. Here is what it stands for:
Specific - your goal has to be clearly defined so that you know what you are trying to achieve. Define it in the simplest way possible and think about things like: Who is involved? Where will you be accomplishing it? What is it you are trying to achieve and why? What are any requirements you may need to complete the goal?
Measurable - can you track your progress and measure your final outcome? How will you know when your goal is accomplished?
Achievable - is your goal something that is reasonable and realistic that can be done? Of course it should not be easy but it shouldn't be completely out of reach either.
Relevant - is this goal relevant to your long term aim? Does it fit well with other goals you have made?
Time - how long will you give yourself to achieve this goal? This is important because you need to give yourself enough time for it to be achievable but still remain a challenge. Is this goal a priority - does it need to be completed first? Is there a deadline for it that is coming up?
An example of a SMART target is:
“I will be able to run 100m 0.2 seconds faster than I currently can in 1 month.”
S - the goal specifies the exact type of run and time difference this person wants to improve on.
M - both the distance of the run and the time they run it in are being measured, so tracking whether the goal has been achieved or not will be easy.
A - Improving the time by 0.2 seconds is an achievable target if this person does the appropriate training during the month.
R - if this person is an athlete or sprinter, or plays a sport where they need to be fast, this target will be highly relevant to progressing in their sport in the long term.
T - a time limit of 1 month has been set to achieve this goal.
Goal Hierarchy
This is a method to break down complex long-term goals into more tangible, shorter goals. To build a hierarchy, you need to have an overarching long term goal. Now think about two things you need to accomplish in order to achieve your top, long-term goal. For example, if my long-term goal is that I want to run my own business, the two things I need to accomplish in order for that to happen is I would like to have a degree in business and find something I am passionate about that I can create a business around. If I split those into two further subgoals, in order to get a degree in business I need specific grades and some work experience in business. You can continue to break down your overall goals into these further subgoals, until you reach relatively short term goals. This method is great for things like new years resolutions which tend to be relatively long term goals - it makes it more manageable by splitting into smaller chunks.
Sticking to goals can be difficult because everyone has good and bad days, but the difficulty is persevering in the bad days. Having clearer or goals split up into easier to achieve chunks can help you retain that motivation throughout the year. I hope your resolutions (if you make any) go well!