Last week’s blog focused on where you want to go and who you want to be in the New Year. Now, comes the practical task of Setting Goals. This requires you to know your starting point as well as the end point. The post of Dec. 22, 2011, Gift of Compassion for yourself is a reminder to be compassionately honest about your starting point. Where are you now? What are some of the steps you need to take to become that magnificent and happy person you desire to be in 2012?
Thinking of steps to take can be a fun brainstorming activity, at this point it is not about making a “to do list,” it is about idea generation. Here is one example, if you want to be a person with more stamina you might think of endurance activities, walking, biking, swimming, participating in charity walks, dance lessons, spin classes, joining a gym or cardiac rehab program. It is fine to generate ideas which may seem impractical at first, just let them flow so that you have plenty to choose from.
Choose up to 3 overall goals, they may be from different aspects of who and how you want to be. Limiting yourself to 3 items at a time allows you to really focus, maintain the change and improve your chances for success. Now is the time to make your goals SMART, Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Resonant – related to your overall vision and Thrilling, a bit of a stretch, and exciting when you think about mastering this goal.
Continuing with the example of increasing stamina, the choice from the list of ideas is walking.
Specific – You must be able to recognize when you have met the goal; you might want to invest in a pedometer to see how many steps you take in a day now and then set a goal to increase it by 10% a week. Now the who, what, when, where questions, walk by self or with another, early in the day 2x a week and evening 2x a week, at the mall or in the neighborhood, and wear pedometer daily.
Measurable – The number of steps is specified, example 6,000 steps a day 4 of 7 days, will check pedometer each afternoon, in order to plan for evening walking which still needs to be done to reach the day’s goal.
Attainable – This is attainable based on current walking. The 10% increase is reasonable; the overall goal is to take at least 10,000 steps a day as recommended by the American Heart Association.
Ressonant/ relevant – This will increase stamina, part of my overall vision and goal to have more activity tolerance for daily activities and to be actively involved with the people I love.
Thrilling – Perhaps the 10% increase is not thrilling in the first week, but knowing the plan is to continue to increase the number of steps on a weekly basis is an exciting goal. Meeting this goal will increase my confidence that I can be physically active and my knowledge that I can do more than I felt like I could.
What are some of your goals in the New Year? How have you made them SMART? Looking forward to hearing from you.
Dina
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