Forget New Year’s resolutions. It’s the goal-setting season.
Setting annual S.M.A.R.T. goals for both work and personal life is key to a great year ahead.
After the ball drops and celebrations end on January 1st, the question that gets asked is what is your New Year’s resolution? Pew Research Center finds that 3 in ten Americans say they make a resolution and by the end of January 13% of them have already given up.
I have ditched the term resolutions and used goals instead. I set goals for the year, and like most people who set resolutions, mine revolve around health and money. But to make sure I don’t end up in the 13% that have quit 1/12th of the way through the year, I use a loose version of the S.M.A.R.T. method. Here’s how I use it, and I’ll share my 2025 goals for this year.
What are S.M.A.R.T. goals?
The concept of S.M.A.R.T. goals is credited to George T. Doran, a consultant and former Director of Corporate Planning for Washington Water Power Company. He recognized that people struggled to achieve goals and objectives and wrote a paper in 1981 titled “There’s a S.M.A.R.T. Way to Write Management’s Goals and Objectives.”
You likely have encountered this term in the workplace when writing annual performance reviews. The intent is to create focus in five areas to improve the chance of success.
S.M.A.R.T. is an acronym that includes:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Assignable
- Realistic
- Time-related
Since Doran’s original definition, a few more letters have been added for goal-setters to be S.M.A.R.T.E.R.; incorporating Evaluated and Reviewed.
So, in an example of a common New Year’s resolution: to lose weight, we can look at how most people set a resolution and how using S.M.A.R.T. would improve commitment.
Using S.M.A.R.T. goals for the new year
Like many, one of my goals for the year is to lose weight. Most people make their resolution by saying “I want to lose 30lbs this year” and within a few months, they are no closer to that resolution and often give up.
Let’s break it down using S.M.A.R.T. First, get specific: I want to lose 20lbs for the year. I will do this by working with a nutritionist to improve my diet. I will incorporate walking and weight lifting as exercise.
It is measurable and provides a checklist I can follow (I love checklists):
As you can see, I have created a series of incremental steps. I am not trying to implement it all at once. I am slowly working my way up to the consistent workouts and diet changes I need to make to lose weight.
Because this is a personal goal, I can skip the A, assignable, since I am the one doing all this work. I am not sharing responsibilities. If you are making goals, like financial goals that rely on a partner, you should assign steps to hold each other accountable.
The next step here is to look at the measurements and determine if they are realistic. Living in Colorado, it is not uncommon to have cold temperatures and snow in February, March, and April. It may not be realistic for me to walk outside for 2 miles if I have a hard time motivating myself when it’s cold outside. However, I do have access to a gym and can use a treadmill to log those 2 miles and stay warm doing it. I may want to amend my measurement to look like this:
This is more realistic, making it more likely for me to achieve it. You will notice too that I included time-related metrics in my measurements. I say how often and I give a range of time. Again, I am not trying to overcommit myself here but also give myself milestones to work up to.
This checklist of milestones also gives me a quick way to perform Evaluated and Reviewed steps in my goal-setting. Notice that most of my milestones are in increments of three months. At the end of March, May, August, and November, I can evaluate how I did, and make necessary adjustments through reflection.
Goals should be flexible
Inevitably, life is going to get in the way of our best-laid plans. If we allow some flexibility and give ourselves some grace when we fall a little short, we will be likely to get back on track and keep moving toward the goal.
I gave myself a break in December and that was intentional. The time between Thanksgiving and the end of the year tends to be busy, stressful and full of extra celebrations that can sink any positive mental progress I may have gained. I tend to feel negative about myself when I reach for the treats and watch my weight crawl up.
Recognizing this and giving myself that month to “let it go” allows me to focus on the joy of the season and get focused again in January. I still try to get to the gym and watch how many cookies I consume, but giving myself permission does wonders to keep the negative thoughts away.
Set both professional and personal goals
You will likely be setting your performance goals for the year at work. Often, these are centered around projects or tasks you will achieve for the year. Don’t forget to include some goals on soft skills. I have done this for the past two years, and honestly, they have been the ones I am most proud of at the end of the year.
Here are some suggestions:
- Healthy boundaries around workload (don’t take on more than you can do well).
- Improve time management. Maybe try focus-blocking or email stacking.
- Practice listening skills. Don’t be the first to speak!
- Increase awareness of inclusivity opportunities. When in meetings or group settings, watch for the people who tend to be quiet or speak less. Notice when they may have something to share but get talked over by the usual speakers. Use your influence in the room to invite that person into the conversation. It can be as simple as saying “I am curious what (name) thinks of this idea.”
My goals for 2025
The first thing I do in January is review my previous year’s goals. What did I achieve? Where did I fall short? Why did I fall short? What can I do to mitigate that happening again (if possible)? This provides insight into how to approach your new set of goals.
For personal goals, some are a repeat from previous years (some goals take more than a year, and that’s OK!). Here’s what I have:
- Lose the weight and keep it off. Every year I start at a particular weight, and by summer I am halfway to my goal only to gain it all back by the end of the year. UGH! I have PCOS, a metabolic disorder that throws my hormones out of balance, leaving me with a huge struggle to lose weight and a massive carb/sugar craving thanks to insulin resistance. This has been a struggle for most of my adult life so I expect this will always be one of my annual goals. This year, I plan to work with a nutritionist to help me pinpoint foods hindering my ability to lose weight.
- Pay off the debt. This one has been on my list for a few years as well. Credit card debt in America rose by $24 billion in the third quarter of 2024. I know I am not alone in the struggle to manage credit card debt, I had almost paid it off in 2024 but we hit some financial obstacles that delayed extra payments. I am confident that 2025 will be the year we finally pay off the credit cards.
- Pay off Disney and have an amazing trip! We are set to go to Disney World this October and I have been slowly saving up all the funds and paying off our package. My family is so excited about this trip and after the stress of 2024, we could use a break from reality.
- Be present. During my year of burnout in 2023, I noticed that I wasn’t present in my environment. I often blanked out words my family had just said to me. I have gotten better, but I still find myself zoning out and missing what is right in front of me. One factor is mindless scrolling on the internet. So, to be present, I need to put the iPad away more often and focus on quality time.
For each of these goals, I will use the S.M.A.R.T. process to set myself up for success. I usually do this in my journal because I do go back and read it so it’s a great place to remind myself what I am trying to do.
Here are some soft goals I am setting for my professional work:
- Boundaries. I started working on this in 2024 with mixed results and it’s a skill I want to keep working on. As a people-pleaser, it’s so easy for me to say yes. Also, when I say no, there is immense guilt that comes with it. I also tend to feel bad taking time off and offer to attend that meeting or log in for a few hours while on vacation so I don’t inconvenience or delay anyone. I am continuing to learn and grow into a comfortable place with the ability to set healthy boundaries and not feel bad when I do. I also keep a mantra in my head. A therapist once told me, “You know you have done a boundary right when the other person is upset.”
- Avoid the gossip. I have been thinking about this one quite a bit lately. I have noticed that there are times at work when another department does something that other groups may not agree with or see as stepping on toes. What comes next is a spewing of negative comments about people and their intentions, abilities, and missteps. I find that I get easily sucked into participating in it and I don’t like it. So, I am going to be more aware and try to manage my reactions. I may not end the gossip, but I am going to work on keeping myself out of the fray.
- Find your joy. Since 2020 completely shook everything, my role at work has shifted, and it’s not a role where I find joy. I can do it. I am good at it. But I lack passion. The reality is, that I likely have to continue doing it if I want to keep all of the great benefits I have, which I do. So, how do I find joy? Well, for me, it’s writing, editing, planning and designing. And that’s why I started this blog. This is my joy. I started the planning in October 2024 and I am going live with the site in 2025. From there, I will be balancing my full-time day job, and making time to do this blog that brings me joy. If I can leverage some of that into my full-time job, I will.
When it gets hard, reevaluate. Don’t give up.
Setting your goals for the new year doesn’t have to be a futile exercise. Grab your favorite comfort beverage, a snuggly blanket and sit in a cozy chair and write out your S.M.A.R.T. goals for the year. Be flexible with yourself. And when you find a goal losing traction or something gets in the way, reevaluate and adjust. Don’t give up.
