How about an S.M.A.R.T. Goal for your New Year's Resolution?

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2015 New Year’s Resolution

Happy New Year 2015! Welcome to Prudent Money Coach's first monthly newsletter (previously published quarterly). This month, I will cover a well-known topic - New Year's Resolution.

Many people make New Year’s resolution with good intention - wanting to change for the better. Unfortunately, many set a bar that is too high and thus setting themselves up for failure, or set one up that is vague and can’t be measured. May I suggest that you set up one or two realistic and measurable new year's resolutions, one(s) that you would and could afford to keep? It helps to set up an S.M.A.R.T. goal - Specific, Measurable, Assignable, Realistic, and Time-related. By the way, if you are curious, according to Wikipedia, it was George T. Doran who was first known to use this term. He used it in November 1981 issue of Management Review. Here is the Wikipedia link if you want to read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMART_criteria.

Anyway, here is my example of an S.M.A.R.T. goal: instead of saying "I want to spend less in 2015", it would be better to say "In 2015, I plan to spend $100/week on groceries, cutting down from $150/week by:
- planning my meals,
- shopping my pantry first before going grocery shopping,
- making grocery list,
- do price ad match, and
- watch what I buy
so I don’t waste or throw away food."
When you have achieved this goal for a while (6 months perhaps) and you are comfortable with it, then you can move on to setting up another goal.

Your goal/ resolution could be anything. Here are some examples:
§        I will spend $100/week on groceries, cutting down from $150/week by planning my meals, shopping my pantry first before going grocery shopping, making grocery list, do price ad match, and watch what I buy so I don’t waste or throw away food.

§        I will try one new recipe each month in 2015 so I will have more ideas for meal plans. I will look for the recipes in my cookbooks at home or online.

§        I will limit playing my favourite computer game to 30 minutes/day after I have finished my homework. If I have not finished my homework by 8:30pm, then I will not play.

§        I will prioritize my family over my volunteer work. I will schedule my volunteer work when my kids are in school and after I have prepared meals for the day.

If your goals/resolutions are sustainable, it means that you actually have changed your life style and/or your habits for the better.

So, if you have never set up a goal for yourself, I challenge you to set one up today. Start with a simple one; one that you know you can accomplish.


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