Posted by While it is great to have ambitious resolutions, for growth in the right direction, it is super important to set goals. And not the ones like learning to play guitar, but SMART goals. These are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely.
Accomplishing SMART goals makes it easier to chop the one big goal into bite size pieces. and set them up for daily, monthly, quarterly and annual targets.
Read all about setting SMART goals here . A perfect example would be instead of setting a goal of – I will eat a more plant based diet in 2021, set a SMART goal and rephrase it to ‘I will replace meat with plant based foods on five of seven days in the week.’ At this stage, at least in the beginning, I would also look up some easy recipes and pin them to the fridge so I don’t have to think about what I could make every night.
Add onto your existing habits – Even if your goals are SMART, sometimes dramatic goals can be a lot harder to keep up with as they disrupt your normal habits. Think about complementary goals that add onto your existing habits. For example, one thing for certain in the day is going to work and commuting back. So this year, I decided to take my workout clothes with me to work and on my way back go to the gym first and then come home. So I don’t have to make the decision to go to the gym after I am home, when the chances of me going to the gym decreases quite a bit. On a side note, it is amazing when you think of examples of goal setting and resolutions and all you think get are weight loss, diet, gym, and running examples. You can add reading a chapter in the book with you morning coffee instead of scrolling through instagram.
Review your goals – It is one thing to set goals and something completely different to stick through them for an entire year and make them a part of your life. In Dec 2020, get a 2021 planner and at the end of every month and quarter write down your goals and and see where you are supposed to be and see if you are tracking. So while you are writing your to do list and your day to day thing in your planner, when you reach the end of the month you can review your goals then and there.
For example, in 2019 and 2020 we had a goal to save up for our house deposit, I wrote down at the end of each month how much should be going in and how much i actually saved. You can do the same on an excel sheet, or print it out and pop it on your vision board.
Discipline is key – Every new change is hard. It takes time to get used to it. When I first set up my savings plan, I had to make an effort to add things into my excel sheet. But now it comes naturally, every month I spend about 10 mins to review and plan out my finances for the month. Same with going to the gym, eating healthy. The last couple of months i have been trying intermittent fasting and avoid any breads for lunch. The latter was a tough one for me but it actually has me feeling high in energy, and hydrated.
Here are my Resolutions or goals for 2021 –
- Handmade over Coffee goals – I had an increase about about 62% in profit compared to last year. I am hoping in the coming year I increase total revenue by about 100%. My strategy to achieve this would be to set up marketing protocols and review them throughout the year.
- Planning over Coffee goals – I am loving this new format on POC blog, as a weekly blog, with a monthly productivity tip, and a monthly Legends-only blog post. I hope to continue to serve on this blog this year.
- Health goals – My original goal for beating my Personal Best time for a Full marathon is still on for this year. My strategy is to focus on core strength and to follow a training plan to improve my pacing.
Apart from these ones, we do have some big picture goals for this year as well. Travel permitting to explore more of this beautiful country we live in. What are your goals for 2021?
Also one last weekend left in 2020, next week we set all 2021 goals in our planner and start crushing them!
Planning Over Coffee 