Achieving Your New Year’s Resolutions by Making them SMART

When it comes to making New Year’s resolutions this year, why not consider making a resolution that will last? Unlike New Year’s resolutions to lose weight, which often do not last for more than a few months and ultimately result in putting the pounds back on, why not consider making a New Year’s resolution to head back to school? While going to college certainly does require making a commitment, the good thing about this New Year’s resolution is that it doesn’t take a lifetime commitment. Rather, once you have earned your degree, you can reap the rewards without having to head back to school.

Of course, in order to have the best chance of making any New Year’s resolution work, you will need to establish goals and to monitor them closely. To help you with the goal-setting process, you might want to consider using the SMART goal setting strategy. This strategy consists of making goals that are:

· Specific
· Measurable
· Action Oriented
· Realistic
· Time-Driven/Timely

To better understand what this means and to have the best chance of making your New Year’s resolution a reality, it is helpful to look at a few examples of each of these components.

Making a Specific New Year’s Resolution

When making your New Year’s resolution and its related goals, it is important to make certain it is specific. This means creating a New Year’s resolution that is focused, clear, well-defined and concise. As such, your New Year’s resolution should be as detailed as possible and should avoid using general terms. For example:

A Non-Specific New Year’s Resolution: I will earn a degree

A Specific New Year’s Resolution: I will earn a bachelor’s degree in marketing.

Making a Measurable New Year’s Resolution

Making your New Year’s resolution measurable involves adding a method for determining whether or not you have achieved your goal while also helping to keep you o track. This may include adding a time frame to your New Year’s resolution or specifying a certain number of credits or a dollar amount. For example;

A Non-Measurable New Year’s Resolution: I will get a degree someday.

A Measurable New Year’s Resolution: I will earn my bachelor’s degree in marketing within the next 5 years.
Making an Action-Oriented New Year’s Resolution

Your New Year’s resolution should also include the specific actions that you need to take in order to achieve your goal. For example:

A Non-Action-Oriented New Year’s Resolution: I will get a degree someday.

An Action-Oriented New Year’s Resolution: I will enroll in college and take the coursework necessary to earn my degree in marketing within the next five years.

Making a Realistic New Year’s Resolution

In order to give yourself the best chance of achieving your New Year’s resolution, it is also important to make sure it is reasonable. When it comes to getting a college degree, for example, you can’t expect to earn it more quickly than the program allows. But, even if it is a four year program, your personal situation may require you to take longer to achieve your goal. For example:

A Non-Realistic New Year’s Resolution: I will earn a degree within the next two months.

A Realistic New Year’s Resolution: I will enroll in college and take the coursework necessary to earn my degree in marketing within the next five years.

Making a Time Driven/Timely New Year’s Resolution

Your New Year’s resolution should also have a defined timeline with goals that can be broken down into smaller steps. Your short-term goals are those that can be achieved within the next six to 12 months, while your long-term goals can be achieved within one to five years. It is also a good idea to consider your long term goals, which are those you plan to achieve over the next five to 15 years, when developing a New Year’s Resolution. For example:

A Non-Time Driven/Timely New Year’s Resolution: I will get a degree as soon as I can.

A Time Driven/Timely New Year’s Resolution: I will enroll in college this upcoming academic year and will take the coursework necessary to earn my degree in marketing in five years.

Now that you have come up with a SMART New Year’s resolution, it is time to write it down and to post it somewhere where you will see it on a regular basis. This way, you will have a constant reminder to keep you inspired and motivated to continue moving forward toward achieving your goals.