Who doesn’t want to be happier? Pick an area of your life to work on and then come up with a goal or even little goals to help you get there.
Being “happier” will look different for everyone. Sure they may look like resolutions, but the end result is happiness. Maybe you want to lose weight, be a more loving spouse, be more available for your children or you just want to read more books. Whatever your goal is, make sure it’s something that will make you happier.
While you don’t have to call it a “New Year’s Resolution” — it’s important to have goals. Goals keep you motivated and help your focus your energy (rather than wasting energy worrying about things you can’t control).
When making a goal or resolution it’s easy to fall off the wagon. There is a clever mnemonic device, SMART, to use when making goals (SMART was first published in 1981 by George T. Doran, a consultant and former Director of Corporate Planning for Washington Water Power Company). Make your goals SMART — specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely. Yes, this will take some effort on your part to map out the details of your goal, but it will be worth the effort when it’s achieved! Take the time to define specifics; how you are going to measure your success, make it something fairly easy to incorporate into your life and set a time line.
Self-help author Brian Tracy said, “Goals allow you to control the direction of change in your favor.” May your new direction be a happier one. Good luck with your goals in 2011!
Happy New Year from Club Solutions Magazine!
