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I’ve never been a fan of New Year’s resolutions. They feel forced and artificial, and they have never done much for me. Goals on the other hand can be powerful, especially if you do them well.
I bring this up because the other day I overheard Lori listening to Jon Acuff doing a review on his 2022 goals. Along the way he talked about how to make good goals. You should probably just go listen to him and skip the rest of this post.
If you’re still here, I’ll share a few thoughts about making good goals.
- Good goals are flexible. You don’t know what the future holds and if you set your goals in stone you’ll find many become difficult or impossible. Modifying a goal is not giving up, it’s a reflection of reality.
- Good goals are measurable. You can’t tell how you are doing if there is no way to measure. Saying you will do something “more often” is nice, but if you did it thirty-eight times last year will you be satisfied if you do it thirty-nine next year? What does more really mean? Likewise with things like “less” and “better”.
- Good goals are in your power to achieve. If your goal is dependent on your boss or your wife doing certain things, it’s not really your goal. If you get the other person involved, making it a joint goal, that’s a good thing. But you’re still dependent on another person.
- Good goals are mostly realistic. I say mostly because tossing in a couple that are unlikely is great if you’re honest about that with yourself.
- Good goals are short-term. Having short-term goals helps you feel like you’re making progress. It also keeps you from putting it off because the goal is so far in the future.
- Good goals are long-term. If you want to do something specific when you retire and you’re thirty right now, that’s a long-term goal. If you keep it as a goal and modify it as the years go by, you’re much more likely to do it. Some long-term goals are best seen as a series of short-term goals chained together.
- Good goals are not “set it and forget it”! Reviewing your goals regularly is critical. This keeps them in your mind. The review process is also used to make modifications or even ditch a goal.
- Good goals change lives. They can also change marriages. Set some marriage goals for 2023!
Image Credit: © Ivelin Radkov | stock.adobe.com
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