With the new year upon us, there is no better time to reinvent ourselves and accomplish things once thought to be impossible. Virtually everyone participates in the act of setting new year’s resolutions, yet only a minority of people accomplish their goals. Rather than getting swept up in a rush of excitement, writing down some ambitious goals and then forgetting them by April, one should set goals in a way that makes them easier to accomplish. By being intentional in the goal setting process, we can form clear expectations and determine the actionable steps that we will take to accomplish our goals each day.
If you want to participate in the potential change that the new year can bring but do not know how to set goals effectively, I’d like to provide some tips and recommendations for structuring new year’s goals (or goals in general)!
1. Keep the list small.
I personally set five goals each new year. The possibility of change that the new year can bring is intoxicating; but as anyone who was once in a fraternity knows, you make your worst decisions while you are intoxicated. The excitement of possibility causes you to pile on resolutions like you are at an all-you-can-eat-buffet. But having too many goals is overwhelming and consequently demotivating. By keeping the list small (3-5 items) you can focus your energy on a condensed but powerful list of goals. Just because the list is small doesn't mean it will not create dramatic change.
2. Set macro goals and micro goals.
My personal goal-setting philosophy involves setting large "macro" goals and then making daily "micro" goals to keep me on track. As an example, one of my macro goals is to read/listen to 80 books this year. If I want to read 80 books in 12 months, I will have to read roughly 6.5 books a month or 1.5 books per week. Based on my average reading speed, I set my micro goal to spend 3 hours a day reading or listening audibooks. Now that I have a daily micro goal, each day I will get a very clear answer to the question, "am I closer to achieving my goals?”. If I read less than three hours that day, the answer is no.
3. Keep your list where you can see it every day.
I encourage you to put your list where you will see it every day, multiple times a day. The more places, the better. I have placed my goals on my bathroom mirror, the background of my phone, the door of my bedroom and the label of my morning alarm. Through these constant reminders, I attempt to program myself to perpetually think about my goals. Another effective method is to write down your goals each night before bed.
Inspiration is a fleeting emotion that does not cause us to change. The only way I can accomplish my pursuits is to become obsessed by them. It is not enough to consider them once a week. You must think, work and move toward accomplishing your goals every day. Having your goals consistently in plain sight forces you to assess whether you moved closer or further from your goals that day.
4. Make SMART goals.
The SMART goal model helps you avoid making goals that are not clearly defined. Making your goals specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound (SMART) helps to avoid the mistake of making an ambiguous goal and then getting frustrated for not achieving it. Without using the SMART goal model, we end up making ambiguous goals such as, "go to the gym more often" or "lose some weight", which are recipes for failure.
Specific - Making sure that your goals are clearly defined helps you avoid aiming at an ambiguous target. Rather than having the goal of “going to the gym more often” a specific goal would look like “going to the gym Monday through Thursday before work/class at 7:00 am for 45 minutes”.
Measurable - By quantifying what success means for your goals, you have hard evidence as to whether you are achieving your goals or not. Similar to lesson two, setting measurable goals gives you real-time feedback. Allocate a specific amount of time or a certain amount of repetitions that you will dedicate to your goal each day.
Achievable - I will be the first one to encourage you to set a goal outside of your comfort zone, but you want to make sure that the goal is within your current capabilities and time-constraints. As an example, if you want to get into running as a hobby but you are not in shape, you would want to start with a 5K and not the New York City Marathon.
Relevant - Goals are relevant if they pertain to your values and the important aspects of your everyday experience. I like to think of this aspect of the model as a recommendation to create a reinforcing ecosystem for your goals where working on one goal helps you achieve two. The goal is to go for collateral damage! For example, I make separate goals for learning, exercising and creating blog posts. As a part of my learning goal, I can learn to exercise more effectively and efficiently. While in the process of learning about exercise, I can write down my experience and the lessons I have learned to share in blog posts. And as an even greater benefit, I find that exercise and learning help me to be more knowledgeable, progress-oriented and energized for my job. All my goals are relevant to my overarching personal principles of excelling in my career, expressing myself creatively and improving my psychical health.
Time bound - Your goals should have a deadline. Having a deadline creates that internal stress and motivation to get things done. Luckily for us, new year’s goals are created under the assumption that the goal will be completed by 12/31 of this year. Make sure that you have weekly, monthly and quarterly deadlines within your yearly goal!
5. Use pillars for goal setting.
Now even with tips for making the goal setting process more effective, you may need help choosing goals to pursue. I like to set my goals based on different aspects or “pillars” of my life. There are so many different pillars of our life that we can choose to focus on: relationships, mental health, physical health, our jobs, our finances or our spiritual life. Choose 3-5 pillars for your new year’s goals and set a SMART goal for each of them. Below are some recommendations that you can use for your goals.
Pillar One - Physical Health: Set a goal to complete a physical challenge.
I am a firm believer that all big personal change comes about from being more physically active and healthy. Exercise is a means of stress-relief and improved well-being . For that reason, I recommend not putting pressure on yourself to look like a supermodel. I find that people who exercise with vanity as their sole motivation have a hard time staying motivated in the long run. The goal is to use exercise as a tool for health, mental-clarity and improved productivity; being in great shape is just a positive side-effect!
Having a physical goal keeps you disciplined and motivated to exercise. I encourage you to only do physical activities that you like to do or else you will have a hard time being consistent. For example, if you set a goal to go to the gym five times a week but commercial gyms suffocate your soul, you are setting yourself up for failure. If you prefer to be outside, go for walks or ride a bicycle. If you don't like working out alone, join a class. Just do something!
Exercising is easier said than done, and for a lot of people it is a never-ending struggle. In order to be consistent and achieve your goals, here are a few tips to help make working out more habitual:
Prepare your food for the week on Sunday.
Lay out your exercise clothes each night for the next days workout.
Go to the gym at the same time every day. (I recommend going first thing in the morning or on your way home from work).
Follow an online exercise regimen.
Find a person who is dedicated to exercising and ask if you can join them.
Pillar Two - Education: Set a learning goal.
Making the commitment to become a lifelong learner will greatly enrich your life socially, professionally, emotionally and spiritually. Learning helps you become a better version of yourself while also helping you find what you are passionate about. The traditional education system gave learning a bad reputation: read textbooks, do homework assignments, take exams, then rinse and repeat. Boring! I encourage you to learn about something that even remotely kindles your interest, be it sports, business, psychology, history or economics.
Between the public library and the internet, you could attain the equivalent of a master's degree worth of information in a topic that interests you for free! Learning can be for fun, emotional enhancement or financial gain.
Some potential ideas:
Set a goal to read books and listen to podcasts on your topic of interest.
Take an online class in something that interests you via Udemy, Masterclass or an online Community College.
Learn a new skill: an instrument, a language or a visual art.
Pillar Three – Vocation: Set a career related goal.
We spend most of our adult lives working. It is important to be interested in and motivated by the work that you do. No matter what role you are currently in, there is a way to either a) improve the current situation or b) research new situations that would leave you more fulfilled.
Some potential ideas:
Networking: meet with 3 people a week at your job and learn about their experience.
Set a deadline to earn a promotion. Express this goal to your manager and set up recurring meetings to see if you are on track.
Start a side hustle.
Spend 30 minutes a day researching new careers.
Pillar Four - Expanding the Comfort Zone: Do something that scares the $hit out of you!
This is the only goal I have where I don’t follow the SMART goal method. The reason being that I like to keep it open-ended and adventurous. The next time an opportunity presents itself (and now that you are looking for it, be sure that it will) to do something that scares you: sign up.
What are you terrified of? Public speaking? Expressing yourself creatively? Speaking up for yourself in the face of harsh criticism? Taking on large projects? Running for president of your club?
Whatever it is, do it!
On the other side of your comfort zone is growth, satisfaction, health, wisdom and happiness. What always strikes me as a curious paradox is that people who are unhappy cling so tightly to the comfort zone. Why stay in a place that doesn’t bring you any benefit? There is nothing I fear more than looking back on my life with a list of regrets. I personally guarantee that rejection, failure, and vulnerability are supremely uncomfortable in the moment, but after consistent exposure to your "fears" you will notice there is nothing to be afraid of.
Change Your Habits, Change Your Life.
The process of improving yourself does not entail achieving a goal and then reverting back to original habits and thought patterns. The goal is to live in a state of constant improvement. For this to happen, adopt new routines and work at them consistently until they become daily habits. Make these things so much apart of your routine that you don’t even think about them! One of my favorite books on the topic of habits is "The Power of Habit" by Charles Duhigg. It causes you to give serious consideration to what you do on a daily basis and why you do it. I encourage you to read it!
There is no better time than now to adopt new habits, chase goals and pursue a more rewarding life. Best of luck on your journey of improvement in 2020. Make sure to keep me updated on your progress!
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