Setting Goals for the New Year

Happy New Year Fit Fam!

2022 is here and in full force. If you’re like me, you have your eye set on some goals for the year. Click here to download the printable worksheet.

But believe it or not, I wasn’t always like this. Growing up, I found it to be a big waste of my time. The school counselor would walk in with her planner and worksheets and I would check out. I found them to be waaaaay too daunting. And part of me was like, “Why plan ahead for things I probably won’t do?”

So many people make New Year’s resolutions each January and often never revisit them. 

But there’s a secret- a widely known secret actually. Breaking down your big goals makes them far more attainable. I learned to set S.M.A.R.T goals, and it seriously impacted my thoughts on them. This acronym checklist will help you realize this year’s desires.

Specific

• “I want to be healthy.” No way. Get specific. How do you want to be healthy? What’s a specific way you can add to your general health? If your goal is to drink more water, set a specific amount, like 60 oz a day. Having a specific goal makes you more likely to stick to it.

Measurable

• You want this to be measurable. You want to be able to check this goal off and say “Hey! I’ve been drinking 60 oz of water every day for the entire month. That’s awesome. Let’s up it to 70 oz a day now that I’ve gotten the hang of this.”

Attainable

• If you’re a “goal-getter” like myself, you often bite off more than you can chew. Instead of setting your water intake at 85 oz a day when you are lucky to get an 8 oz glass of water in by 2pm, try 50 oz. And increase that, by say 10 oz each week until you reach your complete goal. When you’re getting started, you need to set goals that are within reach and encourage you to keep going!

Relevant

*this one can be kind of confusing 

• Think about your big goal and break it down into smaller tasks that you need to accomplish. Are the tasks you’ve broken down relevant to reaching your goal? And is it even the right time for this goal? For example, if your goal is to start your own business, you will likely have a bunch of smaller goals to help along the way. For abstract goals like this, evaluating which steps are necessary and which are not will be crucial.

Timely

• Give this goal a target date. You’re saying, “Hey, I want to reach this goal by (insert exact date here.)” This goes back to the water intake example. I want to drink 70 oz every day this week and I will check in to see how I did on Sunday.

Think you’ve got the hang of this? Good!

If you’re someone who is curious about how you spend all of your time or you’re just like “I don’t have enough time in a day,” I have another suggestion for you. Try keeping a time diary. It’s similar to a food diary, or really any other sort of diary. Basically, you log everything you do in a day and how long you did it for. 

Man, this will open your eyes to how long you do stuff. I discovered oh, I really do have time to get all the stuff done that I needed. I just have to stop d*cking around so much. 😂

This exercise gave me a lot of perspective and helped me find ways to manage my time better. I hope it does the same for you! 

What are your goals this year? I’d love to hear in the comment box below or feel free to post on the gram and tag me, @justgetfit.

Go get ’em!