It’s that time of year again! The one where you promise yourself this year will be different. Or maybe you have gotten to the point that the new year no longer inspires the possibility of a second chance. If this is you then you are in good company! An article from 2019 reports that 57% of those surveyed made no New Year’s resolutions at all and of those that did, only 7% kept their resolutions..
There is certainly a lot of pressure around setting a New Year’s resolution but after years of not meeting them it can be difficult to keep going. If you are having a hard time this year maybe consider using a different approach! One of my favorite approaches for the new year is to set SMART goals. The acronym SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound. Let’s look at how SMART goals can be applied to New Year’s Resolutions.
The most popular New Year’s resolution for 2019 was “to exercise more”, but what does that mean? Something that vague is hard to measure so it’s hard to feel like you are making progress! Instead of setting a resolution to exercise more let’s make it a SMART Goal.
Exercise More:
Specific: Do 30 minutes of physical activity. Walking, hiking or riding a bike (pick your favorites!).
Measurable: 5 times a week
Achievable: Think about your schedule. Do you have 5 days a week or is 3 more reasonable?
Relevant: I am setting this goal because I believe exercising more will help reduce inflammation, increase fitness levels, and help me get more fresh air.
Time-bound: 1 month
All together the SMART goal looks like this. In 2022 I will do 30 minutes of physical exercise per day at least five times per week for the month of January.
Creating a SMART goal allows you to be specific about the actions you will take to achieve your goal and allows you to see progress toward completion. Why don’t you give it a try? Leave a comment with your SMART goal for 2022!
References
New Year’s Resolution Statistics (2021 updated). Discover Happy Habits. (2021, November 13). Retrieved January 5, 2022, from https://discoverhappyhabits.com/new-years-resolution-statistics/
Boogaard, K. (2022, January 3). How to write smart goals (with examples). Work Life by Atlassian. Retrieved January 5, 2022, from https://www.atlassian.com/blog/productivity/how-to-write-smart-goals
