The year 2012 is here and everyone is talking about resolutions and changes to be made. Honestly, I started about 2 months ago reflecting on 2011. It wasn’t the best year of my life but it by far wasn’t the worst. I’d say the year falls somewhere in between the two and I’m okay with that. Overall, I learned many valuable lessons throughout the year. But one thing that I did recognize about last year was how I didn’t set goals. Okay, I did set goals but they were ambiguous, broad, they weren’t in writing (in one place) and they weren’t smart. In fact, they were pretty dumb. Dumb meaning, there wasn’t a plan to get them accomplished.
I entered into 2011 with general broad goals for the year since I really don’t do resolutions. Those things were:
1. Stay in shape
2. Find a new job
3. Move
4. Save $10,000
5. Blog more
Notice how broad those goals are? No details about how, what, where and when. Except #4 which was pretty straightforward despite the “how”. If that was a party invitation, I wouldn’t make it to the main event! I spent 2011 searching for and working towards things when I didn’t even know what I wanted. Trying to accomplish things that weren’t really in alignment with my goals or my life. Doing things in vain and wasting valuable time and money. Trust me, reading that makes me realize why I spent so much time confused. Yes, I accomplished several of those goals successfully and I’m proud of myself. The thing is I could have accomplished them ALL if I had made them more specific. For instance, with goal number 1, what does that mean? I did one 5k in 2011 compared to the plethora of 5ks, 10k and half marathon I completed in 2010. Define in shape? How come I didn’t make it more clear what I wanted to do? Going forward, I want to make goals with a plan. SMART goals.
I posted this photo on Instagram last week from the January Women’s Health Magazine. I also saw it in the January Essence Magazine and my friend Niki posted it on her blog today in an infographic. Obviously, if I keep seeing it everywhere there’s a lesson to be learned about how to effectively create goals.
I’m going to think long and hard about my SMART goals and vow to share them here on my blog. Stay tuned.
