As December is moving closer to its mid-point, we start thinking more about the end of the year. What that ultimately does is make many people reflect on the past year and consider potential goals or improvement areas, New Year’s Resolutions. What if we thought of them as SMART goals instead? There are common things people want to change or improve about their lives. Many people have financial goals or health goals. Some people want to travel or have certain experiences. Some people have larger goals, like starting or expanding a family, running a business, or purchasing a house.
New Year’s Resolutions or SMART Goals?
Many people start New Year’s Resolutions. Of course, these are common! But they tend to be vague. Consider the idea of “get healthier”. Of course, a lot of people want to be healthier. And this is a common NYR we see people make year after year. Maybe you’ve made that goal! But it’s very vague and it’s hard to tell if any improvement has been made by the end of the year because of that. We want to be able to look back at the progress we’ve made and really be able to measure it.
This is where SMART goals can be especially helpful. They’re more specific than general goals and it’ll be much easier to get to the end of 2026 and know how you did!
What are SMART Goals?
SMART is an acronym that describes a certain way of setting goals. It stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time based. If you follow these steps to setting goals, you’ll be setting clear goals that you’ll know if you did or did not achieve them by a certain time.
Specific goals mean that there is a clear definition for your goal. “Get healthier”, for example, is not a specific goal. It’s a very general goal and it can mean a lot of things to a lot of different people. Some people want to change how much they weigh, how much exercise they get, or what they eat. All of these categories fit under the umbrella of “Get healthier”. By setting a clear and specific goal, however, you’ll know exactly what you’re working on. Consider setting a goal like “Go to the gym 3 times a week”. This goal is specific and tells you exactly what you’re tracking.
This goal also ticks off Measurable. “3 times a week” is a measurable goal. You either do or do not go 3 times a week (or more). It’s also, for many people, an Attainable goal. However, for others this may not be. That’s why it’s important to consider how achievable your goal is, especially within a certain deadline. You have to really examine what you can do. If you’ve always been very sedentary, then going to the gym 3 times a week is not going to be an easily attainable goal. Once a week may be a better goal.
This type of goal is also Relevant to the idea of “get healthier”. Getting more exercise in is a good way to increase health. If this is something you value, then going to the gym a certain amount of times is relevant.
Many NYR are inherently time based. Many people consider them as starting on January 1st and ending on December 31st. You may have shorter or longer deadlines. But the important part is that you have deadlines. You need your goal to have a clear deadline because then you’re more likely to actually work towards it. That’s why setting SMART goals at this time of year can be especially helpful.
Do I Need to Set Goals?
No! Of course not. Not everyone needs to be setting goals or NYR. If you feel like you’re doing well or have no overarching concerns, then why worry about setting goals? Many people feel like they have to set goals or NYR and feel a lot of pressure to do it because it’s something so many people discuss. Set goals if you’d like! Don’t set them if you don’t want to. Goals should be something that excite you, not something you dread. SMART goals will always be waiting for when you need them or are ready for them. You can always work with a therapist, too, to work on whether you need to be setting goals or not.
