Setting Goals for the New Year

Instead of beginning another New Year with Resolutions and self proclaiming promises why not try creating Solutions and solid goals for your future. Here are a few goals to work with going into 2010.

Goal Setting


According to various studies, somewhere between 40 and 80 percent of American adults make New Year’s resolutions. Some resolve to eat healthier, exercise more, make more money, spend more time with family, do more to help others, find a better job, quit smoking or another bad habit, find “the one,” and go back to school.
Despite all the best intentions, few people achieve their lofty goals. In fact, some studies suggest that fewer than 30 percent of New Year’s resolutions are kept! Most goal setting experts believe this is due to ignorance concerning how to set goals properly. So what can you do to minimize your chances of failure and maximize your chances of success to achieve your resolutions for 2010?
Here are some ideas:

1. Don’t set goals on the spur of the moment. Spend time reflecting on the past year’s mistakes and missed opportunities, as well as the life you would like to create for yourself in the coming year. Don’t be impulsive. If you see someone playing the saxophone in a park on December 29 and decide to make learning to play the sax one of your resolutions, you probably will not make it too far.

2. Make a list of your goals and think them through, weighing their importance. Examine your reasons for wanting to achieve the things on your list. If it is something that is not important to you, cross it off the list.

3. After making the list, narrow it down. Choose three or four important goals to focus on and prioritize. Don’t overwhelm yourself by setting more goals than you can realistically accomplish.

4. Set goals that challenge you, but are easily attainable with a good amount of hard work and dedication. If you must set a huge goal for yourself, break the resolution into mini-resolutions and tackle those one at a time. Be realistic about the obstacles you will encounter as well. Envision the hurdles you will have to face and overcome, and form an action plan for how you will respond to those problems as they arise.

5. Be specific. For example, rather than setting a goal to lose 20 pounds, write down that you will lose 20 pounds over the course of six months at the rate of one pound a week by eating three healthy meals and two healthy snacks a day, eliminating sodas and fast food, and taking an hour-long speed walk before dinner five days a week.

6. Set measurable goals. For example, don’t say that you are going to work on spending more quality time with your children. Instead, describe how you will spend the time. Some examples: I will read a short bedtime story to my children every night; one night a week will be family movie night; I will spend at least three hours playing with my children outside every weekend; and one Saturday a month I will take my children on a fun family outing, such as a trip to the museum, zoo, or a picnic at the park.

7. Ask for help. Tell supportive members of your family and friends about your goals, and ask them to help you by offering you encouragement, advice, or assistance in meeting your objectives.

8. Be positive. Believe in your ability to accomplish great things! Always exude optimism and confidence when you are talking about your resolutions. Even if you have your doubts, fake it ‘til you make it—psych yourself up to believe that you will absolutely accomplish your goals this year.

9. Set deadlines for goal progress and completion. Evaluate your progress at regular intervals. When you approach things in this manner, you can recognize and identify the things that are not working and come up with a Plan B while it is still early in the year. Also, put yourself on a deadline to accomplish certain things. Be sure to reward yourself for meeting your goals. For example, if your goal was to cut down your cigarette smoking a little bit at a time until you quit, come up with a day of the week in which you will reduce the cigarettes you are allowed to smoke. Every week that you successfully cut back, spend the money you have saved on a special treat, such as a movie rental or a magazine that you enjoy.

10. Be resilient. If you fall off every now and then, do not become so discouraged that you just give up all together. Try to look at every setback and failure as an opportunity for you to learn something constructive. Analyze the situation and form a new plan if necessary, but get back on the horse and try again! If all else fails, grit your teeth and tough it out! Remember, the experts say that it takes 21 days of faithfully putting into practice and living a new behavior before it becomes habit, and six months of doing so before it becomes so ingrained into your behavior that it becomes almost effortless. So if you find yourself discouraged and feel as if you just can’t go on, commit to doing it for just 21 more days, come hell or high water, and stick to it! If you are feeling particularly ambitious, circle July 1 on your calendar and commit to yourself that you will absolutely not abandon your pursuit of realizing your goals prior to that date. Remember this: a little bit of hard work and determination never killed anybody. Go the distance; you will be glad you did.

So as the new year approaches and we start formulating what our goals for 2010 are going to be, don't forget the human side of business. Simple goals such as smiling when you meet people, remembering names, and treating people with dignity and respect will not just make you a better human being, it will also impact your bottom line in the coming year.