Happy New Year to you ALL!
With the New Year comes New Year Resolutions (NYR). A resolution is a firm decision to do or not to do something. How is that going for you? Personally, I don’t make NYRs. And if I have, it has been infrequent as I don’t remember any that I kept. I would rather set goals.
This is not to downplay resolutions, but their success is based on willpower mainly, therefore if you don’t have a strong willpower in a specific area, you fail? How do you develop that will power between the 31st of December and 1st of January? Plus, resolutions sound like emotional decisions to me. You need to know why or why not you will do or not do something again, the benefits, consequences and sacrifices involved for it to be worth your persistence and execution. It must be something you can put in front of you like a vision. This is what I call goals.
Get a vision board and put your goals on there. With goals, comes a plan. With goals, comes action. There is no wishing here. With goals, comes specificity. There is no mindlessness here. I love Sheldon’s quote here. “Good resolutions are like babies crying in church. They should be carried out immediately.” (Charles M. Sheldon). But we all know this is not usually the case. Goals people, not resolutions. Goals!!
To set goals, you need focus and as much as we want all things done NOW, it is not possible to do. We are not God; “Omni-executor.” You are one person, with one brain, 2 hands and 2 feet, therefore we need focus to accomplish specific goals. Pick a few goals just for 2017, like 3-5, with 5 being the maximum. If you are setting challenging, worthwhile goals, even 3 are enough to saturate your year. Goals require a lot of work – hard work. I have provided an adapted outline below to guide you in setting goals for 2017. I hope you find this useful.
- A -Actionable; start with action verbs (I will write 2 things I am grateful for daily)
- A- Aligned with the season of life you are in
- C- Challenging enough that it inspires you
- T- Timebound, have deadlines
- I – Inspiring – not boring
- O – Objective, should be measurable
- N – Narrow; aim for specific results
But you know what is even more interesting, intentional and rewarding other than setting goals? Habits. Develop good habits. The right habits that will become a lifestyle, that’s taking you to a deeper level. Like I often say, it is not about resolutions people, it’s about a way of life, #tweetthat. Stay tuned for my next article post about habit forming. Till then, set your goals and have fun executing.
Dr. Tolu Oyewumi has her background, education and profession in Clinical Medicine, Clinical Research and Public Health. She is a certified Coach, Speaker, Teacher, Trainer and a passionate writer. She is also passionate about holistic health, leadership, management, youth mentorship and all kinds of creativity.