SMART New Year Goals

SMART New Year Goals

You can jump on the bandwagon about making New Year resolutions, setting the high bar in losing weight, eating better, or saving money. All things that will most likely cause you greater stress in trying to achieve these goals or in the end, making you feel worse because you didn't meet your expectations. Don't get me wrong, setting goals is important, but make sure they are SMART goals. Making Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound goals are much easier to manage and actually meet or exceed your own expectations.  Making short term personal goals can be like :

  • Make an appreciation journal every night for one week.
  • Switch off the TV, phones, and other devices by 10 pm each day for a fortnight.
  • Read at least one book per month.
  • Do an entire personal improvement course in one month.
  • Donate to charity once a month over four months.
  • Start a garden within a week and tend to daily it for two months.
  • Learn two home-repair skills monthly

Want to improve your financial habits? Here are some goals to guide you:

  • Carry lunch to work every day for three months.
  • Drink only homemade coffee for three months.
  • Make recreational purchases only after 8 weeks.
  • Save 10% of your salary every month towards emergencies.
  • Download an app for monitoring day-to-day expenditure today evening.
  • Check out potential stocks for investment at the end of the week.
  • Automate cash transfer to your savings account at the end of the month.
  • Consult a financial adviser within two weeks.
  • Cut costs by making home-made stuff from next week.

If you want to achieve more at work here are some ideas for short-term career-related goals:

  • Finish a relevant course online every two months.
  • Attend a job conference within 60 days.
  • Have a lunch break with your colleague or boss one time per week for 8 weeks.
  • Interview with another company next week.
  • Report to the workplace 10 minutes earlier for a month.
  • Make contact with a career mentor through email or phone call next Monday in the morning.
  • Learn about ethical leadership and management within three months.


If you want to get fit and healthy, here are some goals you can set: 

  • Find a Gym-Buddy or Hire a personal trainer within a month.
  • Exercise in the gym for three days a week, from 6 am to 7am.
  • Meditate for 20 minutes before bed daily
  • Listen to a mental health podcast daily
  • Purchase workout gear at the end of the week.
  • Measure your weight every three weeks.
  • Do 30-minute intense workouts each morning.
  • Take balanced meals for three months.
  • Eat vegetables for dinner for three days every week.
  • For one month cut off caffeine and drink water instead.
  • Hike/ride a bike/go swimming (or any other sport activity) on Sundays for 6 weeks.


Do not ever forget to work on your relationships. They are important in helping you lead a happy life. That said, here are some goals you can set for your relationships:

  • Communicate with your best friend once a week.
  • Take your partner for a date every two Fridays.
  • Hang out with friends within the next 10 days.
  • Prepare a meal for a special person once a month.
  • Find a couples therapist by the end of the week.
  • Start meditating twice a week.
  • Ask the person you like on a date this Friday.

Good goals can and should be measured. For that matter, here are some excellent tools you can use:

  • A bullet journal. It involves monitoring your goals through journal with bullet lists of the same.
  • If you do not want to use pen and paper, you can keep tabs on your short term goal ideas using apps such as Fabulous, Habitica, MyFitnessPal, and so forth.
  • You can ask your friends to observe you as you make short-term changes to your lifestyle and ensure that you meet every goal that you have specified.


To conclude, it is essential to appreciate that while you might have very good short term goals, there are bound to be challenges along the way. Therefore, only by accepting that you can fail to achieve 100% of your objectives enables you to make changes in your life. Nonetheless, you always have to endeavor to ensure that your accomplishments far outweigh your failures. Now, do you have a short term goal? It is time to start working towards it!

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