It’s that time of the year again, and it is time to start thinking about what goals you’ll be working towards this new year. For most of us, these goals can be career related, relationships, finances and health. Think about other areas that would require focus in the following year for example personal development and number of books you want to read too.
When setting these goals try not to limit yourself. If it does not scare you, it’s not big enough! Instead of simply setting new year’s resolutions, set goals and intentions because according to research 80% of new year’s resolutions are forgotten by February hahaha.
Instead of coming up with random goals why not implement S.M.A.R.T goals this year around? Let me refresh your memory, the abbreviation S.M.A.R.T. stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timely. So before we start with our goals for the new year look back at who you were last year, what you would like to improve or new habits you would like to adopt?
Envision the best version of yourself girl!
What does she look like? Is she more organised? Will she be starting a business? Is she signing up to upskill herself? Or finally deciding to become a Tea in 60 mentor? This best version of oneself differs from person to person but I kid you not you will not regret taking time to do this activity.
After envisioning who you want to be and reflecting on who you were last year you might have an idea of what you want to do this year. Awesome, you just finished the most important step in this process. Okay so now for step two, this is when we implement the SMART goals concept.
For each goal evaluate and ask yourself if it is a very specific goal.
Trust me you don’t want to be vague about what you want so it should be very specific for example let’s say I want to code using Java and Python this year. A vague idea would be I want to code. Do you see the difference between the two? The second one can cause you to procrastinate or waste time trying to then choose which programming language to choose.
Thirdly, is the goal measurable?
Can you put metrics or use numbers? So let’s say you are an engineer and you want to complete three projects this year, this is measurable and at the end of 2022 you could then evaluate how many you did.
As long as it is achievable and relevant then go for it.
Imagine saying I want to go to the sun or I want to spend the year without drinking water, this is not achievable for now. The goal has to be relevant to you, do not be that person trying to take someone else’s goals and making them your own. We are all different and what is relevant to me may not be relevant to you.
Lastly these goals should be timely, try to set deadlines of when to achieve the goals.
Setting deadlines will then motivate you to meet the goals before the deadlines. Another tip is to write it down, write your goals for the new year somewhere you will constantly see them. With the advancements in technology we now have applications to do this for us.
Without a vision or goals, you would just be navigating the new year without any direction. As ladies in the STEM discipline we should be more organized, think critically and be more analytical. These are just examples of the mind set and characteristics one can adopt this year.
After listing all the goals and going through this process then you are set to go. So remember to envision your best self, set SMART goals, write them somewhere where you can see them, believe in yourself and finally let’s start accomplishing these goals. I challenge you to try this and to stay on it for this year and see how much you will accomplish. YOU CAN BECOME WHO YOU WANT TO BE. I BELIEVE IN YOU! DO YOU BELIEVE IN YOURSELF?
