At the beginning of every year, millions of people create New Year’s resolutions. The problem with New Year’s resolutions is that they seldom last. According to a recent study about New Year’s resolutions, only 64 percent last longer than the first month, and only 46 percent last longer than six months. Even more discouraging is the statistic that only 14 percent of people over 50 actually achieve their resolution compared to 39 percent of people in their 20’s.
Unlike resolutions that almost always get broken, goals at work are tied to you and your performance for the year. For one to be successful in their job it is important to create SMART goals.
SMART goals are:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable
- Relevant
- Time bound
S -- By creating goals that are specific to what you are trying to achieve then one will have a better vision of what is to be accomplished.
M -- Goals must be measurable so that one knows if the they are achieving the desired outcome.
A -- Although stretch goals are a great way to grow as a professional, it is important that goals are achievable.
R -- The created goals should be relevant to what one is trying to achieve. There is no need to chase after something for an entire year only to discover it was the wrong target.
T -- It is important that goals are obtained in a time period that makes sense for the goals, but it should have an end or a review period. At the end of this review period is a good to time to reevaluate the results to determine if the goal was satisfactory.
With a new year, comes an opportunity to create new goals, goals that one will be pursuing for the year. By using the LifePulse tool from eLife HCM, one can create and track goals that will make one successful in achieving their goals.
