I first noticed it when I was ten or so: Every New Year’s Day, my dad would take a sheet of graph paper and across the top, each line represented a day and along the side, each line represented his weight. His end goal was always to get his weight down to 185 lbs. … and accomplish this by his birthday on March 5th. He posted his graph on the bathroom door and weighed himself at least weekly. I would watch the line sometimes going up, sometimes staying level and more often going down. I don’t remember a time when he didn’t accomplish his goal.
This memory got me to thinking about the difference between goals and resolutions. The dictionary defines resolution as “a firm decision to do or not do something.” Many of us have made these New Year’s Resolutions … and for most of us they last a month or two. They were a good intention that lacked “staying power.”
But a goal is different. Many motivation experts encourage us to make “SMART” goals, that is, goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Results-focused and Time-bound.
Goals give us a sense of accomplishment. Thomas Carlyle is quoted as saying, “Nothing builds self-esteem and self-confidence like accomplishment.”
For me, there is an enormous difference between just making the list in my head and writing it down. Think about your daily “To Do” lists. I like writing mine, because there is such a good feeling when I can check one off. “Accomplished!” It isn’t the same when I just know I did something.
My experience with resolutions is mixed … mostly they have left me with a sense of failure, a sense of disappointment. Resolutions have hardly ever left me with a sense of accomplishment … either I kept them, or – more often – I didn’t!
You might be familiar with the study Forbes magazine did of Harvard MBA graduates. They followed the class for ten years. Harvard’s graduate students were asked if they have set clear, written goals for their futures, as well as if they have made specific plans to transform their fantasies into realities. The result of the study was only 3 percent of the students had written goals and plans to accomplish them, 13 percent had goals in their minds but haven’t written them anywhere and 84 percent had no goals at all.
Think for a moment which group you belong to.
After 10 years, the same group of students were interviewed again and the conclusion of the study was totally astonishing: The 13 percent of the class who had goals, but did not write them down, earned twice the amount of the 84 percent who had no goals. The 3 percent who had written goals were earning, on average, 10 times as much as the other 97 percent of the class combined.
Here’s my invitation as we enter this new year: Set one or two goals for yourself; write them down and make them “SMART.”
When you accomplish them, you’ll feel good about being you … I promise!
In the meantime, may your new year be filled with happiness, health and prosperity … and most of all, may you have a sense of accomplishment!
