Making resolutions for a whole year is not to be undertaken lightly (and some would say, best not undertaken at all). It’s true that resolutions are often too ambitious, too vague and too unrealistic to do much except falter miserably before January is out – and sometimes, shock horror, they’re not even SMART (if you’re not familiar with this acronym, commiserations/congratulations – delete as appropriate. Where have you been?).
I’ll explain SMART to the (happily? unfortunately?) uninitiated in a moment. But you’ll notice I’ve already cleverly avoided the ‘faltering before January is out’ trap by making my resolutions in February. I’ve also limited myself to five – enough to cover more than one ‘life area’, but not so many that I don’t have a hope of remembering the bloomin’ things, let alone sticking to them.
So… SMART. What are SMART goals?
People are taught slightly different versions of what this acronym means, but I’ve usually been told it stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely. According to www.projectsmart.co.uk, these are some of the other meanings attributed to the letters:
S – specific, significant, stretching
M – measurable, meaningful, motivational
A – agreed upon, attainable, achievable, acceptable, action-oriented
R – realistic, relevant, reasonable, rewarding, results-oriented
T – time-based, time-bound, timely, tangible, trackable
Here are my five Not-So-New Year Resolutions, which I’ve done my best to ensure are Specific, Measurable and Meaningful, Achievable and Action-Oriented, Realistic and Rewarding, and Timely.
- To walk for at least an hour and a half a week. Every week.
I used to do this and more, but it’s fallen by the wayside. I know the reasons why, so I need to do something about it. Some weeks all I do is walk to work, which only takes me up to around an hour a week. - To submit at least one short story every month, whether that be to an anthology, competition or magazine.
- To fit in a 15 minute session of yoga or WiFit exercises every week, hiatus hernia allowing.
Again, I’ve got out of the habit and once I’m out, I find it hard to get back in! - By my birthday in May, to have lost and kept off 4lb, meaning that I can have a blip without returning to the Number of Doom (I make no apologies for using pounds and stones; as far as people’s weights are concerned, I never went metric, okay?).
- To have a plan for fun and practical stuff and review it regularly with Techie Husband (and kids where appropriate), so that a) as a family and a couple we go out more this year, and b) we carry on making progress towards the garage conversion and D.I.Y projects. Keeping on top of the small steps will hopefully help us (metaphorically) build the staircase! So far we’ve chosen a shed, I’ve ordered it, and Techie Husband has constructed it with help from all of us (not the best pics, as they were taken on my phone).
I also advertised the hundreds of plastic sacks taking over the garage to FB friends, free to any takers, and got rid of quite a few. Next we need a snow and rain free day to start moving items out of the garage and into the shed! You can barely move in the garage at the moment, let alone convert it.
It was tempting to put in an extra writing resolution or two, but I’m sticking to one for now. I really would like to get back into fiction, so it’s best to focus on that. Any other strides I make with my writing will be a bonus.
Oh no! I just thought of a number 6 that’s really important.
6. Set aside half an hour a week to write a blog post and keep my website up to date.
At the moment, details of my published articles are months behind and I’ve now got some PDFs to use on the site too.
I’ll revisit my resolutions on here now and then to see keep myself accountable.
So did you make any New Year Resolutions? Or did you decide not to this year? If you made them, have you stuck to them? Perhaps you make monthly or quarterly resolutions instead. I’m interested to know what works – or doesn’t – for you, so let me know. 🙂
