Finally, The Santa Claus is coming to town!

While taking a break with his/ her loved ones, we should also note that 2023 is coming to an end.

What have you achieved in the Year 2023? Have you managed to meet the goals you set earlier this year? (Or, can you still recall your goals?)

The Santa Claus also reminds us that it is time to welcome 2024 and set our goals.

To my blog readers, you may ask what my goal is for 2024.

Let me tell you… 2024 is the time for me to lose weight.

But wait! How confident am I to meet this goal? Is it a good goal?

Time to set up a SMART goal

It is not new news that every goal should be SMART. What does it mean?

• Specific: I am saying I need to lose weight. How many pounds should I lose? 5 pounds or 50 pounds? Also, what will I do specifically to lose 5 (or 50) pounds? Should I run on the treadmill? Or should I eat less? How often should I do it?

• Measurable: How should I measure whether I achieve my goal in the end or not? Should I get on the scale? Then, how often should I measure the progress? Every day, or every month?

• Actionable: With my current resources and capabilities, is my goal actionable and making good sense? Let’s say, I always work overtime. Can I still run every day? If I need to do so, what should I trade-off?

• Relevant: How is running related to weight loss? If I work hard, can I really lose weight? Is it a good way to achieve my goal?

• Timely: I am saying I need to lose 5 (or 50) pounds. Should I achieve this goal by the end of the month, in 6 months, or a year?

If you like to see more examples of SMART goal setting, read this article from BetterUp.

Other factors contributing to success

Apart from omitting the SMART elements of the goals, there are other factors contributing to success in achieving the goals, based on my observations.

• We should record our goals at the beginning. This is very important because we may forget what exact goals we set for ourselves if the goals are not properly recorded.

• The goals should be realistic. If someone has no experience in any sports and exercises, I suggest he/ she start with a smaller goal, rather than running for two hours every day. A realistic goal is easier to achieve, motivating people to do better and set a higher goal next.

• Persistence is critical. If someone invites you to have hot pot tonight, but you have planned to hit the gym originally, will you choose the gym or the hot pot?

• There should be a buddy to support. The buddy can remind us to be persistent and advise us how we can do better.

• We should review the progress regularly. Progress reviews give us a lot of insights. They let us know what may contribute to success and failure as we work hard to achieve our goals.

Now, let’s see how these successful people manage to lose weight in the end.

Credit: Women’s Health

Credit: Good Morning America

Okay, coming back to the New Year goal setting. Your SMART goals should not be limited to weight loss. Your goals can be set for all aspects of your life.

SMART goals are also extremely important to project success.

• SMART goals clarify the reasons for starting a project. Why do we need to work on this project? What are we looking for? That means SMART goals give us clear directions in our projects.

• Apart from directions, we can better set a project milestone with a SMART goal.

• SMART goals give accountability to every member of a project team. Every team member should have a better idea of what he/ she should accomplish in the project.

• SMART goals also allow us to understand how much effort we need to make in projects. If we failed to meet the goal of the last quarter, was there a significant gap between actual performance and expected performance? Or, was the gap just a minor one?

I would like to hear your thoughts on this. Let’s discuss.

Vincent

Read My Other Viewpoints

<< Back Home