New Year’s Resolutions; we make them but how often do we actually keep them?

The New Year can be a fresh start and a way to make amends for the things we didn’t quite complete in the previous year. This could be a weight goal, advancing in a new job position, or perhaps it is reading a certain amount of books in a year. Whatever your goals are for 2017 I have one suggestion for you:

WRITE THEM DOWN!

Okay, I promise I wasn’t yelling at you with that last comment. It was just a strong suggestion. Not only do I recommend to write your goals down, but I also recommend for them to be specific. It isn’t enough to just say, “I want to lose weight,” or “I want a want a new job.” Instead, a goal should be along the lines of “I want to lose 6 pounds in three weeks,” or “I will become the lead marketing director of sales by the end of the year.” Making your goals specific forces you to focus, and helps make the aims achievable. Breaking your long-range goal into smaller parts makes success come faster and keeps you motivated as you head to the final goal.

Setting SMART Goals

One of the goals I wrote down at the start of 2016 was to become a Class A PGA member by the end of the year. I can proudly state that I passed ALL of my Level 3 tests and will be inducted on January 4th. This has been a goal for me and I've always worked hard to be viewed as an equal to my peers in the golf industry. I'm even more proud that this is something that both my husband and I have achieved. How did I do it? I started by writing it down!

Did I accomplish EVERY goal I wrote down? No, I’m not Superwoman, although that would be pretty cool. I have to say, though, that I have achieved more of my goals since I started writing them down and becoming more specific with my timeline.

Think about it this way- it’s like going to the grocery store with a list of things you need versus not. How many times do you go in without the list and end up coming out with more than you need or missing the things you needed in the first place? You know it happens more often than not!

So, this year you’re going to make a change. You will write down your specific goals on January 1st and put those little checkmarks next to them as you get them done. What happens if you don’t reach the deadline? It doesn’t mean that you’re a failure. Just look at all of the things you HAVE achieved, refocus, and adjust accordingly.

You probably have different goals in each area of your life. My suggestion would be to break them down by category (relationships, personal, workplace- whatever you want really). Maybe you want to strengthen your relationship with your significant other by planning 3 date nights a month; this would go in the relationship category. Figure out what areas of your life are most important to you and then write down 8-10 goals for each category. You are going to be surprised by how much you will be checking off in 2017. Don’t delay, you have 365 days to get those bad boys checked off your list!

Okay, time for me to go and write down what I want to achieve in 2017…

Maren Motivation