Instead of trying to keep a New Years Resolution I wonder if you wouldn’t do better with writing down some goals.
I have made New Years Resolutions for years but I have never stuck with them quite as well as I do when I am working toward a goal. And I have to get SMART with my goals, so I am more likely to stay focused.
Last year I met some pretty hefty goals I set for myself. Despite minimal ability to train (homeschooling moms get basically zero time without kids) I was able to finish a marathon, something I had been longing to do for many years. My blog met and exceeded several goals (although lets be honest there were some seriously huge goals I set that I didn’t meet yet). And of course I did these while tackling another year of homeschooling (my number one goal).
So, what is a SMART goal?
A SMART goal has many layers. Just deciding “I want to run a marathon” was NOT going to cut it. Sure there are people that can sign up and just go and do it… but that will not be working for me. I needed a schedule. I needed a plan.
Specific – I already knew which marathon I would be running. This one was simple enough. Specific was also important in my blog successes this year. Just saying I want more traffic wasn’t enough, I wrote down specific goals each month.
Measurable – Marathons are easily measurable. Blog numbers are also measurable.
Achievable – I didn’t choose an ultra-marathon. I didn’t opt to run 50 miles like my husband did. That wouldn’t be achievable for me. I didn’t write down such extravagant numbers that I could never reach… I put achievable goals for my blog.
Relevant – My goals were relevant to my life. I’m not saying someone couldn’t make drastic changes in their life in a years time… but I am saying to choose something that is possible and interests you enough to keep you going. I am a homeschool mom and my goals must reflect that. Deciding that I want to be the fastest one at my marathon or that I would become the most famous family travel blogger aren’t relevant to my life. I don’t have the time to educate my kids AND do those, so they aren’t relevant for me.
Time-Bound – My goals all had times on them. My marathon was on a set date. So each week I was able to increase my mileage enough to get it up enough to complete my race. With my blog I didn’t say “I want 15,000 views”, I had to actually put a time on it. I had to know each week that I was doing what I did needed to get my monthly views up to par.
I have goals for many areas of my life. I have another goal relating to my physical health, I have goals relating to our homeschool (what I want my kids to know), I have goals relating to my blog (both in regards to traffic and income), I have financial goals (Everyone should if they want to retire one day), and I have travel goals.
I think too often we make New Years Resolutions to lose weight and when we reach for another slice of pie instead of a carrot we think we have failed somehow. Feeling defeated puts a mental strain on us making it harder to succeed. If I instead say that I want to lose 2 pounds a week messing up and ordering a burger intend of a salad doesn’t mean our entire plan is thrown off… it just means we have to do better next time.
I hope you will consider upgrading your resolution and making it a smart goal instead! Stick with it. If you have a hiccup all is not lost, there is no better time than today to get this done! You deserve this, and you can do this better than anyone!
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