A Challenge

I have a challenge for you.

No no no!! Not a sword fight!

Hm. Let us start at the beginning.

Did you set any New Year's Resolutions? Did you? GOOD. I like those. It means that you have decided challenge YOURSELF. That what a leader does. Now, are you following through with it?

What was it?

Some extremely common New Year's Resolutions are...

• Lose Weight
• Learn Something New
• Eat Healthier
• Get Out of Debt and Save Money
• Spend More Time with Family
• Travel to New Places
• Be Less Stressed
• Volunteer

Guess what? That's not very helpful. Have you ever heard of the SMART* acronym? It stands for:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Relevant
• Time-bound

Take our "Lose Weight" goal. You have to ask more questions. How much weight? Can you really lose that much? When do you want to have this amount of weight loss achieved by? "Lose Weight" could mean that you lose 2 lbs (0.9 kg) in the first week of January, and then gain 15 lbs (6.8 kg) more by the end of December. Obviously, this is not what you want to have happen, but hey, you technically achieved your goal.

So here's what you need to do. Make that goal SMART. "Lose Weight" should be specific. How much weight? Okay, now we've changed it to, "Lose 170 pounds." (77.1 kg)

Okay, now make it time-bound. "Lose 170 pounds by December 31, 2016."

Now, is that attainable? If you are exercising regularly and eating right, you should be losing about 1-2 lbs (0.4-0.9 kg) a week. Don't shoot too low, but remember that there are, on average, 52 weeks in a year. So if you're shooting for 2 lbs (0.9 kg) a week - be realistic here - you should be able to lose around 104 lbs (about 47 kg). You may want to put a small approximation in there, to be sure that, if you work hard, you actually will achieve your goal. So now we have "Lose 95-104 pounds by December 31, 2016." (about 43-47 kg)

What about relevant? Is it worthwhile? Do you really want it? Will it help you? If yes, then continue on with your goal. If not, either find a reason for doing it or throw away the goal. You will only ever follow goals that you find important.

Now it's specific, relevant, attainable, and time-bound. What about measurable? Add another sentence for measuring it. "I will lose 95-104 pounds by December 31, 2016. Every week I will check my eating and exercising habits, and write down a weekly SMART goal to help me stay on track." (about 43-47 kg)

Look at the difference between this: "I will lose 95-104 pounds by December 31, 2016. Every week I will check my eating and exercising habits, and write down a weekly SMART goal to help me stay on track." (about 43-47 kg), And this: "Lose Weight."

Doesn't that just make you happy?

And now, after all that, my challenge. I challenge you to choose even one thing you want to do with your life - be it to lose weight, or be more friendly, or wake up earlier, or learn a new skill, or be happier, or what-have-you - and I want you to make a SMART goal. Then follow it for 30 days at least. Please. If you do that, it will be a habit. I promise you, the more things you do this with and the more you improve yourself, the better a person you will be, the happier you will be, and the better life you will live. You'll smile more.

*There are many different spins on the SMART acronym. This is the one I use.

Have A Smiley Day!