january: new years resolutions

I'm not really a "new years resolution" type person.  I am far too distractable and lacking in will-power to do anything consistently for a year, so I never set goals for myself on January to be completed within 365 calendar days. Of course, you can work on self-improvement anytime of the year, but there is still something about the start of a new calendar year, the camaraderie to be found with others capitalizing on the blank slate too. Maybe you have friends setting goals for themselves and you think the support will help, or maybe you just got a really good deal on a new gym membership. Whatever the reason, at the start of every January, people will inevitably ask you if you have any resolutions for the new year. So what's your answer?

In years past, when I've managed to make a new years resolution (NYR), I always picked lofty, well-intentioned and completely un-actionable and thus, unachievable goals. "Lose some weight" is a great goal if that's what you want, but if you don't have a plan for getting there or don't have a reason for setting it in the first place, what's the point? "My NYR is to be a better person." That is great! But how will you measure your improvement in order to hold yourself accountable to that goal? There's no point in setting goals for yourself that hinder your from the start with their vagueness and lack of measurability.

By now, most people have heard of the idea of S.M.AR.T. goals (taken from the business world). It means goals that are:

• Specific - What exactly do you want to accomplish?
• Measurable - How will you track your progress and measure the outcome?
• Achievable - Is the goal reasonable enough to be accomplished?
• Relevant - Is the goal worthwhile and will it meet your needs?
• Time-bound - Set 1 (or more) target dates to guide your goal to a successful and timely completion.

If you think about your NYRs from that point of view, suddenly it seems silly to set goals like "lose some weight" and "be a nicer person," not because those are not worthy things to strive for, but because there is no way to hold yourself accountable to them, no way to measure your success against a yardstick of some sort, and, on their own like that, you have no clear way to achieve them. And knowing myself as I do, I know that if I  am not held to account, it is very difficult for me to make any true effort on something unless I am very, very excited about it.

In light of all that, this year I have 3 NYRs. Now, that may surprise you after the first two paragraphs, but stick with me. One is to not drink more than once a week during the month of January. Two is to go to a yoga class at least 4 times a week in the month of January. And three is that I will set one or two new goals for myself each month.

I decided that the best way for me to achieve anything of importance this year in my personal life is to approach it the same way I would at work, thus fitting my NYRs into the S.M.A.R.T. goal format. I am, however, going to add one more letter on to the existing mnemonic: another S for Stickable. My hope is that by focusing on one or two of these SMART goals each month, they will end up STICKing as a habit for the rest of the year. Maybe not all of them will make sense to take on full time, but most of them will have at least some aspect that I hope to continue even after their month is done. And because these are small SMART goals, my chances of achieving them are much greater, and we all know how much better it feels to be winning at things.

So with that in mind, here are my complete SMART goals for January:

1. I will only drink alcohol one night a week. I will track my progress by monitoring the days on which I do drink. January is a slow month for work events so that will make it easier, and I will plan my evenings to focus on activities that won't lead me to want to drink. Not only will this help me cut down on drinking in general, it will be a much needed break post-holidays. I will stick to this in January.
2. I will attend at least 4 yoga classes a week. I will track my progress through the MindBody app, which I use to book my yoga classes. I have a 1 month unlimited pass for a yoga studio and there are enough classes throughout the week that fitting in 4 each week is not unreasonable. I feel happier, more focused and centered, and healthier when I practice yoga regularly. 

And though the last doesn't really fit into the format... I will evaluate my goals at the end of each month and set new ones for the next month. I will track my progress by writing weekly updates on this blog on my success (and failures) and my progress overall. Maintaining my focus (and keeping up with my writing!) will be a challenge, this will be my reach goal of the three, but putting it out there into the internet, as well as telling my friends, should help keep me focused. There is no reason I can't keep this up, the only thing holding me back is me. There are a lot of aspects of my life I want to improve, in small and large ways, and I believe this approach will help me initiate those improvements. Hopefully, by the end of this year, I'll have some new healthful habits and a whole year's worth of blog entries sharing how I got there. 

Here goes nothing.