As Thomas Edison once said, “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.”

As the calendar flips to a fresh start, it’s time to set goals for making this a great year, as the onset of a new year brings several opportunities for positive changes and growth in our everyday lives. Setting goals can help guide the way to success, by leading one through the difficulties of everyday life, and can define visions for the future.

As one starts to set goals to kick off the year, it's important to first start off by reflecting on the past year. Pay attention to little things, including both successes and challenges in the past year. What went well? What didn’t? What can be improved?. Reflecting can help set realistic or achievable goals

To help choose your goals, use the help of the acronym “SMART.” SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time bound. To specify goals and provide clarity, try prioritizing personal values, such as perseverance, open mindedness, loyalty, and so on. This can help maintain a positive mindset. Having a positive outlook can help have a higher commitment to goals instead of simply giving up on them. This is why it's important that one’s mindset aligns with their goals. Stahl from Forbes explains that to make goals measurable, “Quantify your goal in a way you have control” (Stahl, 2021). When a goal is measurable, it means the success of it, or the level of accomplishment, can be measured. Taking incremental steps forward, or breaking goals down into smaller goals can help make a goal measurable. Measurable goals are important as they can also help promote motivation by providing a clear target to work towards, avoiding distractions. In addition, goals should be realistically achievable. Consider what resources are available and identify limitations and constraints to the goal. Although it’s not impossible, without the right resources, such as technological and human resources, and constraints such as budgets, could possibly make goals tough to achieve. Relevant goals are goals that are currently important to an individual right now, and goals that line up with one’s current priorities. Relevant goals are important because individuals may find them to be more meaningful, and they may feel more passion towards them, increasing inspiration and motivation once again. Lastly, time bound goals have specific deadlines. The University of California explains that “Anyone can set goals, but if it lacks realistic timing, chances are you’re not going to succeed” (University of California, 2017). Setting deadlines can help motivate one to accomplish a goal. It creates a sense of focus, and urgency, preventing procrastination, and putting the goal off. Overall, Setting SMART goals is a great place to start setting goals, and they can help one live up to one's full potential, while also being realistic. However, there are flaws to SMART goals. Although using this acronym is a starting point to setting goals, they can restrict creativeness. SMART goals emphasize realistic goals, which can discourage individuals from reaching more ambitious goals. SMART goals may also not be adaptable to every situation, as some goals may benefit from more flexible and adaptable approaches.

Additionally, “The Wheel of Life” is also another system that can help set goals. The Wheel of Life is a visual representation, which is similar to a pie chart, that represents different aspects of life. As shown in the example, each segment depicts a specific area of life, and some commonly used categories include: Education/work life, personal development, relationships, spirituality and mindfulness, environment, recreation and fun, and health and wellness. These categories can be interchanged based on the individual. The target of this tool is to make evaluations on a scale of 1-10, on the fulfillment of each category. This tool helps provide clarity on areas that require more attention and helps promote a more balanced life.

Lastly, another major aspect to setting goals is having flexibility. It's essential to be flexible and open minded, be open to tweaking goals here and there; life happens and tweaking goals may even help one be more successful. Assess The Wheel of Life periodically, and identify goals that could be tweaked to better fit different aspects of life.

Although being flexible to goals is essential, it’s also important that it doesn’t change the commitment to the goal. Being self aware is also crucial as it allows one to acknowledge the difference between being flexible, and abandoning a goal.

There are many ways to help set goals, and one of the common ways is using the acronym, “SMART,” which stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time bound. Reflecting on past goals, setting priorities straight, being flexible and having an open mind to tweaking goals, and staying motivated can help someone be more successful with sticking to goals. Overall, accomplishing goals can lead to self confidence and performance, self growth, building resilience, and long term success. They can boost mindsets, from learning experiences and embracing the challenges.

Works Cited

Anderson, T., Atwood, S., & Warnock, B. (2023, November 28). 10 Reasons Why Setting Goals Is Important When It Comes to Success Online. Bluehost.com. Retrieved January 28, 2024, from https://www.bluehost.com/blog/10-reasons-setting-goals-important-comes-success-online/

Forbes & Stahl, A. (2021, December 9). This New Year's Set Goals, Not Resolutions. Forbes. Retrieved January 19, 2024, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/ashleystahl/2021/12/09/this-new-years-set-goals-not-resolutions/?sh=4f3885331ece

Rou, C. (2023, September 19). Empowering Growth: Strategies for Wheel of Life Goal Setting. Quenza. Retrieved January 28, 2024, from https://quenza.com/blog/knowledge-base/wheel-of-life-goals/

University of California. (n.d.). SMART Goals: A How to Guide. Retrieved January 19, 2024, from https://www.ucop.edu/local-human-resources/_files/performance-appraisal/How%20to%20write%20SMART%20Goals%20v2.pdf