3 Steps to Achieving Your 2015 Goals
In January 2013, I had a telephone conference with a lifestyle coach. I told her that I wanted to reopen my law practice, write a book, lose weight and meet my Boaz all before December 31st! My coach’s first order of business was to convince me that I had too many big goals. We agreed to focus on my writing a book and improving my health.
Prior to working with a coach, I started many Januarys with huge, non-specific plans and often ended the year disappointed with my results. After mentoring and training, I’ve learned a powerful method of setting and achieving goals. Here is a brief summary.
Establish SMART goals:
Think about what you want to accomplish. For instance, instead of saying you want to increase your income, say you want to increase your income by $1,000 a month.
Someone who knows nothing about you should be able to look at the before and after and see results. Saying you want to improve your diet is not measurable, but saying that you want to limit sweets and empty carbs to three a week is a measurable goal.
Your goal should require you to stretch, but it should also be within your grasp. If your goal is to be married with two children by December 31st, that goal is probably not attainable if there is no special someone in your life. However, if your goal is to exercise five days a week for 30 minutes each day, and you’re currently exercising three days a week, adding the extra two days is possible.
Is your goal consistent with your lifestyle and your resources? If your goal is to be self employed by the end of the year, but you have no business ideas or experience, your goal is probably not realistic. If you have been working on your side hustle for a couple of years, and you’ve replaced 35% of your income from your employer, making the leap into self-employment is a reasonable objective.
Time bound. Your goal should have a deadline. “I’m going to lose 30 pounds” has no date attached to it. “I’ll lose 15 pounds by June 30th and another 15 by November 30th” is time bound.
Making your goals SMART forces you to be precise about what you plan to accomplish.
Write down your goals in long hand following the SMART formula. Yes, you can type them on the device of your choosing, but you won’t get the psycho-neural connection that you get from writing them in long hand. Begin each day by writing down your goals. Consider your goals as you schedule your day. Ideas will come to mind. Make sure you capture them.
Recite positive affirmations throughout your day. My shower monologue begins with “I am happy, healthy and whole.” I had to spend some time in the dentist’s chair last week. Instead of dwelling on the discomfort, I mentally recited positive affirmations. Restate your goals as affirmations. Your affirmation needs to be in the present tense, in first person, and positive. If your goal is to stop smoking. Your affirmation would be, “I am tobacco-free.” If your goal is to stop yelling at your family members, your affirmation would be, “I speak to my family in a polite and loving tone of voice.”
Using these techniques will turbo-charge your ability to establish and accomplish your big goals in this New Year. Next week, I’ll give you some additional tips for achieving your goals in 2015.
