How to Use SMART Goals to Achieve Your New Year’s Resolutions

I have always set New Year’s resolutions and have pretty much failed at them.  To be honest, I can’t even really recall what they were.  I am sure they were probably something vague. I decided I needed to be more specific in determining what I wanted to accomplish for the year ahead and started setting goals versus resolutions.

In the last few years, I started using some techniques I use at work to set those goals. This method really works for me, because it gives me realistic steps and ways to measure my achievement.  It also gives me a way to reevaluate my goals to see if they are still something I want.  Our lives can change rapidly and allowing ourselves to be fluid in changing our goals is okay!

I utilize the SMART method of goal setting.  Here’s how it works.  I know I want to start drinking 8 glasses of water in 2015, but how do I go about making sure it happens?

1. Make it Specific: My goal is to be drinking 8 glasses of water a day consistently by the end of 2015.

2. Make it Measurable: Using my specific goal above makes this easy.  I can either use an IPhone app to keep track or keep track the old fashioned way in my paper daytimer.  I can also set a reminder in my phone to remind me to drink my water for the first month or two until it becomes a habit.

3. Make it Achievable: I am always guilty of making a ridiculous goal and then not being able to achieve it right away, thereby getting discouraged and quitting.  This is where the SMART goal setting helps me.

I am going to start 2015 by drinking at least one glass of water every day in January and upping my goal monthly until August.  I will reevaluate if I want to drink more than 8 glasses of water a day after August at that point in time.

By making a plan for how to achieve drinking 8 glasses of water a day instead of saying 8 glasses starting January 1st, it makes it achievable and easier for me to accomplish. Chunking up the steps to the ultimate goal makes it much easier.  Think of training for a marathon.  You don’t start out running 26 miles day one, you work up to it.

4. Make the goal Relevant: You want to link your goal to something important to you so that it remains inspiring.  In my case, drinking more water will assist me with giving up caffeine which is a longer term goal I have been struggling to achieve.  My plan is the more water I drink, the less I will drink caffeine.

5.  Make it Timely: One of the keys to good goal setting is to put a time constraint on it.  Mine is to be drinking 8 glasses a day by the end of August.

I’ve given myself a specific goal to achieve in the new year, I have spelled out how I am going to do it and I have set up a measurement system to keep me on track.  Now, I still have to use my will power to actually drink the water each day, but I have put myself on a path to make that happen.

This method can be used for any goal whether it’s work related or personal.  Do you set goals or resolutions for the New Year?  What method do you use for achieving them?  I’d love to hear about it in the comments!