My resolutions set for the new year hardly ever last. Except one year, when I resolved to randomly wink and smile at people. That lasted through April, mainly because it provided me amusement.
Why Do We Set Resolutions?
Usually, it’s to improve upon some aspect of who we are or what we do. These resolutions are often personal – such as drink water, eat better, or volunteer more.
And for some, having declared this resolution is enough to motivate them towards success. But for the rest of us, not so much.
What’s interesting to me is that personal resolutions often mirror professional goals. When a work goal is set, some people will be intrinsically motivated to perform in ways to achieve it. Most, however, are not.
So how can we encourage everyone to set and reach goals?
How to Make Goals and Resolutions Stick
- It starts with being SMART. Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely goals.
Using the SMART model, defining your goal just got easier. Now, instead of “volunteer more” we can expand and explain the goal more thoroughly and ensure it is meeting the SMART criteria. For example, we can now define the goal as: Each quarter, spend a total of 8 hours volunteering within school district and church.
Spoiler alert: this same approach works wonders for resolutions too.
- Keep the number of goals manageable. The target total number of goals is 3 to 5, and this includes both objective (numerical) goals and subjective (actionable) goals. Having more than 5 goals diminishes the amount of focus that goes into any single goal. To keep the goals meaningful, keep to 5 or less.
- Set goals with your employee – not for your employee. When involved in the creation and definition of goals, employees will naturally have higher ownership and understanding of the goals and how they are to be reached. Be open to employees’ input – remember, this is their goal to reach.
A successful 2023 is yours for the taking.
Working together, keeping the number of goals manageable, and using the SMART model is the trifecta of effective goal setting. Random winks are optional.