A few years ago I stopped making resolutions and starting setting SMART goals. That first word is an acronym meaning Sustainable, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-bound. The result was a lot of success because they were very specific.
I’m not saying I achieved every goal but much more than when making a resolution on January 1st that’s out of sight, out of mind by January 15th. 🙂 Last year I tried setting goals month by month but it didn’t work for me so I’m back to annual goals with quarterly check-ins.
This year I’m setting eight goals by areas of life.
Health Goals
When I was working out and at my lowest weight in years, the good health followed. I need to get that back.
- Lose 25 pounds in 2016. I want to get back to where I was last Spring and that means losing 25 pounds. Short term: Lose 10 pounds by March 31st.
- Exercise 3-4 times every week. I’ve gotten out of the exercise habit and I’m sure that’s contributed to the weight gain. I want to start walking regularly again but also need a strength component to my exercise. My short term goal is to find that solution by January 31st.
Wealth Goals
My husband and I have no debt but I am trying to make up for years of not saving enough for retirement.
- Max out 401K Contributions. Since I passed the special age the maximum contribution for me is $24,000. I’ve already set my withdrawal rate up for $1,000 per paycheck so this is on autopilot and set for success.
- Max IRA Contributions. The maximum for my age is $6,500 again this year. I will make monthly contributions of $500 and get an extra $500 in there over the year to meet this goal.
- Resume Monthly Budgets. I’ve gotten lax tracking spending the past year and want to tighten the belt (see how savings I have to make for retirement above!). I will resume making monthly budgets and am making January a no-spend month other than groceries and regular bills. Amazon might think I’ve left earth with no purchases all month.
Blogging Goals
Blogging in 2015 took a back seat due to lots of changes at work and travels. I missed it so set goals with that in mind.
- Switch Host. I’ve purchased hosting with a new host but haven’t moved the blog yet. I’ll do that first quarter.
- Regular Posts. My goal for 2016 is to post a minimum of 10 times a month.
Home Goal
I could make a long list here, but it would diffuse my energies and I’d end up with a list of things that didn’t happen. Instead, I’m adding just one home goal.
- Declutter. I didn’t do a good job on this goal in 2015 and am tackling it again in 2016. I will declutter my home. My goal for the first quarter is to tackle my bedroom and bathroom.
You might have noticed there weren’t any goals for travel. Other than for business, I have the year pretty planned out for travels. If I come up with any goals for this area during the year, I can always add them.
The first week of April, I’ll review progress from the first quarter. Do you set goals or resolutions?
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