There is a time of the Year that is significant to almost everyone, the New Year. A time when everything looks fresh, you are ready to shed off all the bad events of the previous year and look in hopeful anticipation of a better year to come. A time when we dream that things would be different, we believe we can, and we would accomplish everything we did not in the previous year. This is great. As humans, we can hope and dream, we have the power to create a different story for ourselves. And really, change can happen, but change can happen at any time, in March or even December. If you have worked hard and are ready for change, change will come.

One other thing that goes with the New Year is resolutions. You hear it everywhere, on TV, online, and on podcasts, even your friends ask you,” So what is your resolution for this year? Some resolutions go like this, this year my resolution is to eat healthier, or this year my resolution is to work harder, even better, this year I would go to the gym more. Truthfully, we try to live up to our resolutions. Go to any gym in the first week of January, and you would see the place packed full, then go back 3 weeks later, and its back to the way it is every July.

If resolutions don’t work, you need something else. You need Goals. No doubt, you have heard about Goals or you may have set Goals before. With your Goals, you either accomplished them or you didn’t, or maybe it took you longer than you hoped to accomplish them. Whatever happened, Goals work, and they can help make your dreams come true.

According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a Goal is something you are trying to do or to accomplish. A Goal starts with an object, something you are trying to achieve, something you aim for and put in a lot of effort to get. A Goal is a vision of the desired result that a person or group plans and commits to achieve. Goals are more than words you speak, like saying I would spend less, rather it is the desired result that can be measured and achieved within a specified time frame. A good example of a Goal is the Dry January trend, where people commit to not consuming alcohol in January.

Goals should be well written. A well-written Goal is one that is easy to manage and provides a clear path to success. It says what you are going to do and how you would do it. There are attributes Goals must have to ensure that they work. These attributes are SMART.

SMART means

Specific

Measurable

Agreed Upon

Realistic

Time-Based

To demonstrate a SMART Goal, let us say our Marketing department wants to increase our presence on Twitter. We decide we can do that by hosting Twitter chats every week. To host chats, we need to have at least 10,000 Twitter followers. This would ensure we have good engagement and if possible pick up even more followers. The department must write out a Goal for this new plan which they would present to the Executives. Here is what a SMART Goal would look like.

Specific – When a goal is Specific, it is clearly defined and easy to identify. This is where you define the result, you clearly state what you want to accomplish. For example, “I want to have 10,000 followers on Twitter.”

Measurable – If you don’t know where you are going, then you would not know when you get there. Goals should be measurable, so you can track your progress and know when you get there. For example, I may or may not increase my followers count on Twitter to 10,000.

Agreed Upon – Some people also say Attainable. A Goal is of no use to a group of people if it exists in one person’s head. Most institutions need several individuals working together to accomplish a Goal. They may also need to share the Goals with other departments for approvals. Everyone who knows about the Goal should have the ability to agree to it, share it with others, and agree that such Goals are attainable. For example, increasing our Followers count on Twitter will enable us to host chats every week.

Realistic – Some people also use Relevant. A Goal should be Realistic, meaning you should have the time, money, and resources to accomplish the Goals. Goals should also be relevant to the organization. For example, buying ads and posting relevant content can help us get 10,000 followers.

Time-Based – People also use Timely or Time-Bound. A Goal can be attainable at any time but adding a deadline to it would give you the extra push to achieve your Goal. When a person says I would travel to the Bahamas, they can travel at any time; today, tomorrow, next year, even in two years. But when that person says I would travel to the Bahamas in 6 months and commits to making it happen, they have a better chance of going to the Bahamas. For example, we would increase the number of followers on Twitter to 10,000 in 3 months.

Putting these all together, our Goal would be

The goal of our Marketing Campaign is to increase our number of Twitter followers to 10,000 in 3 months, by purchasing ads and posting relevant content every day. This would enable us host chats every week, upon agreement by the Marketing Department.

Writing or setting a Goal may seem difficult or a big job but when you start to do it, you would discover that you can. To help you set the right Goal, you can ask yourself some questions to ensure your Goal meets the criteria.

Questions like:

Is my Goal specific? Would my colleague, friend or even a stranger understand it?

How would I know when I have achieved my Goal?

Will others agree to my Goal when I share it? Is my Goal attainable?

Is my Goal realistic? Do I have the time, money, and resources to reach my Goal?

Is there a clear timeframe or deadline to reach my Goal?

Answer these questions using the example above and you would see It Works.

Now it’s up to you, write your goal(s) for the year. We would love to hear from you. Did you write a Goal? Is it a SMART Goal? Share your ideas and experiences in the comments section below.