The New Year is here again and you may be making more New Year’s resolutions: Lose weight? Eat better? Exercise more? Drink less? Before you start devising a plan for the upcoming year, take time to review what you accomplished last year. What goals did you set for yourself in 2013 that you achieved? What goals did you set that didn’t happen? Reflecting on last year’s successes and challenges is important to help pave the way for the new resolutions. Let’s get rid of the excuses that pop up which prevent us from achieving those goals. It’s time to make goals that stick so when you sit back and think about all you did during 2014, you smile to yourself and say, “I Rocked it!”
Reflect on Last Year’s Goals: Make a list with 2 columns.
Column 1 is what you achieved. Write down the goals you made which you accomplished.
Column 2 is what you still want to do. Write down the goals you set which you didn’t do, yet.
Set New Goals for 2014: Use column 2 (what you still want to do) to help set your New Year’s goals for 2014. Pick 2-3 goals max to set you up for realistic success.
Devise a Plan: For each goal, make it S.M.A.R.T.
Specific: Make the goal state exactly what you want to achieve.
Measurable: The goal should be something you can count or add up.
Attainable: Goals should be something you can accomplish with the skills and knowledge you have.
Realistic: Establish a result—oriented goal that you believe is achievable.
Timely: Set a specific time to complete the goal.
Here’s an example of what my goals are:
Eat better:
I will eat better each day by cooking 4-5 dinners a week from home and eating 2+ servings of fruit and 3+ servings of vegetables each day.
Exercise more:
I will run 2 times per week (Monday’s & Wednesday’s), go to Yoga once per week (Thursday’s), and do weights 2 times per week (Tuesday’s & Saturday’s).
(Make actual dates so you have your plan in your schedule. Now your plan is realistic and timely).
Now ask yourself if your goals are SMART. If they are, then you’ve set the right goals and you have no excuses not to achieve them. Bust out your New Year’s Resolution list and make 2014 your best year ever!
What goals are you setting up for yourself this year?
Continue to check in on me to see if I’m reaching my goals!
Sarah Koszyk, MA, RDN