It’s that time of year where workplaces, schools and the internet are full of talk about New Year’s resolutions. Sometimes, they may feel pointless or like they’re setting you up for failure but there’s a reason that New Year’s resolutions appear every year - when designed effectively, they really can be beneficial.
How can we build reasonable resolutions so we follow through with our goals to produce better versions of ourselves during the year? Seems like a big ask, but it’s not! The answer? SMART goals. I know, I know. If you’ve attended ASU as a freshman and taken that intro to ASU class or ever participated in professional development, you’ve probably encountered this before. And it was probably a little brain exercise to cross off your list and forget about. But stick with me. We can use SMART goals to transform our resolutions from afterthoughts to results.
SMART goals are strategies to accomplish tasks effectively without feeling overwhelmed. SMART stands for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based. Using these instructions, we can feel confident in our goals and build a step-by-step pathway to results. Let’s break it down.
- Specific - Don’t be vague or broad in your resolution; focus instead on one thing in particular you’d like to work on.
- Measurable - Choose a resolution that you can measure in some way so you can keep track of your progress.
- Attainable - Make sure that your resolution is something that is actually realistic for you to achieve.
- Relevant - Pick a resolution that fits in with some aspect of your everyday life, like school, work or home.
- Time-based - Set deadlines for yourself to avoid feeling lost or overwhelmed.
Let’s look at an example. Something that’s on my mind for the new year is sustainability, as I notice the impacts I have on the world every day while environmental issues become increasingly dire. But that’s a lot to tackle in one resolution. So here’s a SMART goal I wrote out by filling in the acronym:
- Specific - Instead of attempting sustainability and environmental impact as a whole, I can focus on reducing single use plastic in my life. And when I think about the context in which I use plastic the most, I can focus specifically on bringing reusable bags to stores instead of relying on plastic ones.
- Measurable - I can mark my calendar every time I go to the store and indicate if I remember to bring reusable bags.
- Attainable - Single use plastic is a big part of my life, so just focusing on reusable bags will be an attainable step towards chipping away at the larger problem.
- Relevant - As a college student, I’m doing a lot more of my own shopping, so it would be good to get into the habit now that I have more control over my life and can make choices independently.
- Time-based - By the end of 2025, I will be bringing reusable bags to every store without having to remind myself.
Now I have a New Year’s resolution that actually seems doable and is exciting to me because I’ll be making a difference in my own way. But what happens if I fall off track? With this quick yet detailed planning I’ve done, I can review each part of my SMART goal to remind myself and get back on track. If something isn’t working, I can revise my goal! If you are determined to follow through on a resolution or a goal, don’t scrap it as soon as it doesn’t work out. You will likely have to adapt goals as your schedule changes and events come up during the year. So make it work for you! This process is supposed to be helpful, not hurtful. If you’re falling off track over and over, maybe that’s a sign your goal has lost its relevance. So write a new one! Overall, this activity is supposed to help us think about goals differently and best prepare ourselves for success.
Start the year off right with Sun Devil Rewards! Give yourself a treat after your hard work building a resolution. Use secret word SSTCheersTo2025 to earn points.