Not just another post about new year resolutions
There is a big difference between people who make New Year’s resolutions and people who set goals for the New Year. To set realistic, attainable goals, you should start right now and not in the new year.
I know what you’re thinking, ‘if one more person tells me to set goals and meet my targets I will explode and New Year fireworks will arrive early.’ It seems like a big ask after an exhausting year, but there is method in this madness.
Why setting goals now increase your chances of being realistic
Setting your New Year’s goals now may increase your chances of being efficient and realistically achieving your goals while reducing stress in the New Year.
As the year draws to a close, you owe it to yourself to take some time to review your achievements, pat yourself on the back and plan for more success – keep the momentum going!
Too often we rush towards the end of the year without ‘looking back to see how far we have come’. It is important to do this review and I’ll bet that you will be surprised at just how much you have actually accomplished in the past 11 or 12-month period.
If you wait until the new year, you will not have as objective an approach. This is because your routine will be somewhat different for one or more of the following reasons:
- School holidays
- Industry shut-down
- General change of pace (no matter how small)
- Silly season (more eating, drinking and socialising)
- Holiday getaway (for the lucky ones who do get to go away in December/January)
Due to the above reasons, your perspective will be somewhat skewed and you are less likely to make realistic goals.
So, why review?
This review period of the year allows you to identify professional and personal performance gaps where your actual and planned results differed. This is the perfect opportunity to identify obstacles and behavioural patterns that inhibit your ability to achieve your goals.
Picture this scenario: This year, you may have planned to spend more time with your family in the evenings but never manage to get out of the office on time, end up sitting in traffic and by the time you get home your kids are bathed and in bed. Perhaps you reviewed your behaviour and noticed that the nights you work late are on the days you stopped off at your local garage in the morning to grab your favourite cup of coffee, costing you an extra 30 minutes in the traffic.
You could then plan to avoid this obstacle and rather purchase a coffee machine for the office that can adequately accommodate your caffeine addiction.
Doing your review and goal setting now means that you can kick off with your goal achievements from day 1. You can use any spare time you may have over the Christmas and New Year slow-down to formulate even better ways to achieve your goals.
A formula for success
There is endless information available on the web to help you set and achieve your goals. As a quick reminder, we’ve included the SMART formula, but this is not included in the scope of this blog.
S.M.A.R.T goals are goals that are:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Attainable
- Realistic
- Time-bound
As exciting as the New Year can be, it can also be an extremely stressful time if you have no direction. Set yourself up for a stress-free 2017 and be the most effective and efficient you yet!
Wishing you and yours a safe and happy festive season. We are delighted with the results of our own review and are looking forward to even more success in 2017.
