Every January 1st millions of Americans set New Year’s resolutions. But we all know that most people never complete their resolutions by year’s end. Statistics show that 64% of people who created resolutions on January 1st were still making a valid effort at the end of January, but 6 months later the number drops to only 44%.
Goal setting can be defined as a strategic approach to behavioral change by which progressive standards of success are set in an attempt to increasingly achieve a desired standard of achievement. In other words, small goals can help you change your behavior to meet a large goal over time. For example, perhaps your doctor just diagnosed you as pre-diabetic. Your doctor suggested that if you lose weight and eat a healthier diet with lots of fruits and vegetables, you might not develop type-2 diabetes. You decide that you need to lose 20 pounds this year. Or perhaps you’re a total health buff and want to focus on your business instead. You decide that you want to grow your business by 25% this year and hire your first driver to expand your fleet.
There are several different types of smaller goals that you can make to help you reach your main goals. These types of goals can be applied to anything from business to personal to health. Let’s break each goal type down and look at some example to help you better apply this to your 2015 goals.
Process goals are goals you have a high degree of personal control over. For example, you have decided to lose 20 pounds this year. You have a lot of personal control over what you put into your mouth on a daily basis. Instead of the Big Mac you can eat a salad.
Outcome goals are goals you have little control over. Outcome goals are exemplified by social comparison as in winning or beating an opponent in a race. Outcome goals are great for individuals who are competitive; however, outcome goals present less chance of success compared to process goals. For example, perhaps in your effort to lose 20 pounds in 2015 you challenge a couple of other drivers to join you in losing weight. Whoever meets their goal weight first wins a prize. This goal type is a great way to stay motivated towards your goal, but you have no control over how much your friends might lose.
Performance goals are more difficult to achieve than process goals and are typically based on a self-referenced personal performance standard that you set rather than in comparison to another person. For example, you decide that you want to grow your business by 25% by August 1st. Or perhaps you want to lose 10 pounds by April 1st. These are examples of your own internal personal performance standards that you set for yourself.
To effectively reach your big goal, goals should be broken down into long-term and short-term goals. Short-term goals provide a strategy to achieve the long-term goal via attainable steps. A long-term goal should be a meaningful pursuit for you. The National Strength and Conditioning Association recommends that short-term goals should be effective yet challenging and have about a 50% chance of success. A short-term goal that is meaningless or too easy will just have you go through the motions as opposed to investing real effort into attaining your goal.
When setting goals keep in mind the following:
Specific – This is the “who, what, when, where, and why” of your goal.
Measureable – How do you plan to measure the success of your goal?
Action Oriented – Do you have the time and resources to do the work?
Realistic – Can and are you able to do the work to reach your goal?
Time Bound – When do you want to reach your goal by?
This is also known as SMART.
Let’s look at an example.
Bob is an independent long-haul truck driver. For the past 25 years he has been driving the roadways of America. Bob is also nearing the age of retirement, but he still loves being on the open road and working. Bob has decided that instead of completely retiring, he would like to cut back his driving and hire his first driver and start a small trucking business. Bob decides that he needs to grow his business by 25% in order to sustain paying his employee.
Specific – Bob’s goal is to grow is business by 25% and hire a second driver.
Measureable – Bob will measure his success by reviewing his clients and hauls on a monthly basis and will continue to network with new potential clients.
Action Oriented – Bob placed an ad online and through word-of-mouth for a second driver. Bob also has been talking with his current clients and actively networking with potential clients to gain their business.
Realistic – Bob knows his goal is realistic because he has the time and resources to reach his goal by the end of the year.
Time Bound – Bob wants to complete his goal by December 31, 2015.
As you make your 2015 resolutions and goals keep SMART in mind. The SMART method can be used for any kinds of goals you may have, whether its health, business or anything else!