While initial motivation for change may be high, statistics show the majority of New Year’s resolutions are broken. With all you give in your work as a nurse or physician, it is not surprising that you may have gotten off track. When feeling burnout, it is hard to muster the energy needed to make desired changes, even when they will contribute to your overall well-being. If you haven’t been able to make your resolution into a habit, setting SMART goals can help you determine what is in your best interest and chunk it down so that the goals are:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable/Accounatable
- Resonant
- Time-lined
This will help you optimize success; you’ll be able to recognize when it occurs. These successes will motivate you to continue on your path.
Specific – By being specific you define, with clarity, what it is that you want to achieve. “I want to spend 10 minutes each night without interruption being with my family” is clearer than “I want to spend more time with my family.” “I want to spend 10 minutes a day in solitude” is more clear than “I want more time alone.” As you determine the specific behavior, it is also important to clarify what makes it important to you. This will help you establish the “Why-power” and can help you continue as you face challenges along your way. The “why-power” provides the foundation of specific action goals within the bigger context of what you are trying to achieve.
Measurable – This provides a way for you to keep track. It adds to or may be included in the specificity. The “each night” might start out as a commitment of 3 nights a week along with the amount of time as noted, over the course of several weeks you can update to the ultimate goal to nightly. So often we take behaviors for granted or discount them, by making the goal measurable you have an additional way of keeping track of your success.
A – Here are 2 possible meanings for A.
- Achievable – it is important to set a stretch goal, so that there is interest on your part in achieving it and yet it should not be overwhelming or out of reach. From my experience, a 70-80% belief in your achieving the goal makes it challenging enough to lead to meaningful success when you’ve reached it. This success fosters more desire to continue on your path.
- Accountable – Most people do better when they are accountable to others. When you are part of a group and need to complete your assignment, or when you tell another person you’ll do something, even if it’s not your first choice of what to do with your time, you’re more likely to follow through. Coaching is known for holding people accountable. So when you set your SMART goal, find someone beyond yourself to whom you will be accountable.
Resonant – The goal has to be aligned with what you truly want. It has to fit into the Big Picture of who you are or want to be. This goes back to the specific reasons for the goal. It is important to cast the goal steps in light of how they relate to what is important and rings true for you.
Time Lined – The goals you set for yourself are measurable in time and they change over the course of time. For example – 10 minutes of solitude, this can be broken down into 3x/week for 3 weeks, then 4x/week for another 3 weeks etc. The time-line lets you know that the goal does not necessarily have an end point, rather it is something that can be revised. Using a time-line approach gives you the opportunity to integrate your learning along the way and update your goals accordingly.
What’s one of your SMART goals?
One of my goals is to be concise, the measure might be less than 500 words in an article. I did not reach the word number goal but perhaps I did reach the concise goal given the content. So flexibility is called for.
For more ideas and more depth for setting your SMART goals contact me to set up a time for a free Year End Review and Plan for the New session.
Revitalize Your Life,
Dina, Well-Being Coach
203.744.YOU3 (9683)
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