It's now [Insert Your Date Here!] and I thought I'd just tease you about your New Years Resolution for this year!
Usually by July, or even as early as late January, this resolution has often been abandoned or forgotten!
What about you?
Indeed, only 40% of Americans actually make New Year's resolutions, and of these, only 9 percent felt that they had fulfilled their resolutions, with a staggering 42 percent overall who failed!
You might puzzle over this information...
...why do people continue to self-sabotage?
Part of the answer is they are trying to satisfy a 'common' value - in that 'it is cool to set New Years Resolutions'. Or they are trying to satisfy the values and wishes of someone else.
Even many of those who set resolutions never really commit to them, nor to they even think it through properly:
- They never work out what they truly want
- They never work out how they are going to achieve it.
In short, they are not setting 'well-formed' goals.
As we come to the end of one year and move to the next one, it is a great opportunity to reflect on the old year, to think about what worked and what didn't work.
But mapping a path forward means following one of the well known goal setting systems such as SMART:
S: Specific
What do you want specifically?
M: Measurable
How can you determine that you have achieved it?
A: Achievable
Does it have a definite end point or is it merely a 'wish'?
R: Realistic
Is it a realistic goal for you - it can be a stretch, but not such a huge leap as to be impossible
T: Time Based
The goal must have a time frame, such as 'by May 1st', etc.
So the question for you is: what do you want in now (and beyond), and how are you going to get it?