How to Set and Achieve Goals in 2022
Originally posted 12/22/21
I love new starts! I love do-overs, brand-new days, new adventures, and new opportunities. I just love newness. And nothing says a new and fresh start as a new year. 2022 is knocking on the door and with that comes brand new opportunities for a new beginning, a new journey, and even a new you. One of my favorite things to do is to lay out my goals for the new year. I love helping my son and husband do it as well, though I don’t think they are as into it as I am. It could be that they have never intentionally set and achieved a goal before. That being said, I couldn’t be more excited to write this post about how to set and achieve goals in the new year. Before I get into the “how'' let's take a quick look at what goals are and why they are beneficial to each of our successes.
What’s the Difference Between Resolutions and Goals?
When doing my research for this post I wrote this question down; What is the difference between a resolution, like a new year's resolution, and a goal? When I Googled this question all the articles that popped into my feed said the same thing. The website I found most interesting and clear was Quartz.com, the watch brand. Their article is titled the same as my question. “Resolution vs Goals: What is the difference between goals and resolutions and which is better?” As I said before, all of the articles outlined the same differences between goals and resolutions. Resolutions are statements of intent while Goals are statements of commitment.
Statements of intent are broad statements like “I want to get healthy”, or “I want financial stability.” These don’t have any specific achievable markers, right? How do you quantify that you are HEALTHY? Or what is lined up with your finances that makes you FINANCIALLY STABLE? The difference, then, between resolutions and goals is specific. If a goal is a statement of commitment, then the goal has to be specific. Instead of, “I want to be healthy” you would specify and say, “I want to lose 30 pounds.” The biggest difference here is that getting healthy, depending on your health could require a large number of things to change to achieve that mandate. To lose 30 lbs is specific. You would then break down the steps you must take to achieve weight loss. All in all the difference is in achievable intent and commitment. I mean how many resolutions have you kept in the past? I haven’t kept one - moreover, I have given up by mid-April, when the weather warms up.
Why Set Goals?
Ok, so we know the difference between resolutions and goals. Now, why should you set goals? My personal opinion and answer to this question are, you have set goals so that you are always growing, learning, and achieving the dreams you have set out for yourself. However, Bluehost.com has a very well-put article outlining why we should set goals. Bluehost author Brittany Warnock explained in the 2014 article “10 Reasons Why Setting Goals is Important When it Comes to Success Online.” Even if you don’t have an online business, her list transcends industries and markets. I will quickly outline them here, but for more detail please go to the article linked above.
Goals Push You Forward
Defining Success is Essential
Goals Hold you Accountable
You Need a Measuring Stick
Goals Inform Action
Goals Set Priorities
Goals Communicate Meaning
Tracking Progress is Important
Recognizing Progress is Important
Goals Help Morale
Her ten reasons are so on point for me, and I hope you see the absolute benefit of goal setting in your own life.
How do I Set Goals I Can Achieve?
My 16-year-old son inspired the third question I wrote down and googled. When we spoke about what his goals were for the coming year, he asked me this question: “How can I set goals and meet them?” That's a great question, and I got a great answer from a Time.com article by Amanda Loudin in her January 4, 2021 article, “How to Set Goals You’ll Achieve.”
Her bullet points hit the nail on the head when it comes to achieving the goals you set.
Pick a specific and realistic goal.
Create a plan of attack
Be accountable to yourself and others
Find joy in the process
The whole idea of goal setting and achieving is entirely doable. If you have never really gotten into setting goals for yourself, I would highly recommend starting slow and small. Not small plans, but small lists of goals.
There is an acronym for setting a goal that has been around for a very long time. The first time I heard about it was when I was in high school, and I am not going to tell you how long ago that was, but it has included at least two decades. The acronym is S.M.A.R.T.
S.M.A.R.T- Goals:
Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. Let's get into each of these separately. I’m referring to an article by indeed.com, “SMART GOALS: An Acronym for Success”.
Specific: Your goal should be specific i.e. outline the who, what, where, when, and why. You want this goal to be something you can accomplish, and to do that, being very specific with your purpose will allow you to plan to achieve it. Like the earlier example of getting healthy. If we break that down to one specific goal, losing 30 pounds, we would outline it like so; I will lose 30 lb. by the end of the 2nd quarter by increasing my workouts, and eliminating late-night snacking so that I can drop my harmful cholesterol levels.
Measurable: Develop criteria for measuring progress toward your goal. If we stick with our example of losing 30 pounds, some measurable steps would be weigh-ins on Fridays. The ultimate measurable step is when your weigh-in shows the total weight loss at 30 lbs.
Achievable: Create goals for yourself that are attainable and achievable by making sure you have the skills and resources to reach the goals. To lose 30 lbs, you may need gym equipment or a gym membership, and you may need a personal trainer or nutritionist to help you. These are all parts of seeing the Goal in its entirety.
Relevant: Make sure your goals are aligned with the overall objectives of your life and or your business. How could losing 30 pounds benefit your life? Your business? Maybe it's the benefit of ease of movement. Perhaps it to have more energy and more focus. This goal should be a win for all parts of your life.
Time-Bound: Your goal needs a deadline. It requires a date of completion. I’ve been guilty of just writing down a list of goals for the year with no end date, and I gave myself an entire year to achieve them. One of the keys to creating smart goals is breaking goals down into more manageable and attainable goals. That’s why we changed our health goal from just being healthy to lose 30 pounds. You don’t need a year to accomplish that goal. Moreover, if I gave myself 365 days to lose 30 pounds, I would come up with 300 excuses as to why I could start tomorrow.
Now that you have all the information you need to set and achieve your goals, I have one more tool I'd like to share to help you on your journey to success. It's a goal planner. Now, whether you're a digital planner type or a paper planner type, this tool is to help you seal the deal with your goals by writing them down. My absolute favorite tool for this is Michael Hyatt’s Full Focus Planner. They are quarterly planners that are goal-based and focused, helping you break down your goals into manageable and measurable steps throughout the quarter. However, it might not be for you. I have a great article that outlines the 9 best goal-oriented planners. From Develop Good Habits.com, the article “9 BestGoal Setting Planners” gives you a great list to choose from.
I very much hope that you have found some inspiration in this article and that you will go out and start setting some SMART goals for yourself, your businesses, and more. We've had a tumultuous couple of years. But that can’t dissuade you or me from looking forward and setting goals for ourselves to become better, stronger, wiser, wealthier, kinder, and healthier. I’d love to hear about your goals for 2022. You can chat with me on Facebook or LinkedIn. Or shoot me an email. I would love to hear from you.
Happy New Year!
Jennifer Cooper
JKC Mobile Notary