The “Feel Good” SMART Goal Setting Strategy for 2022

So, ... what awaits you in 2022? Tired of uncertainty, fear and confusion about what might come your way in the coming year? 2020 surely did come with a BANG!!! And not a very good one either; in fact it brought so much turmoil and sorrow to the world, we just didn’t know whether humanity could withstand all that was coming at us. We shall never forget our unwelcome introduction to COVID and all its destructive aftermath.

Then, 2021 fooled us a little bit as well. Many of us engaged in some wishful thinking, and really wished hard for 2020 to be completely washed away so we could pick up where we left off in 2019! Well, as we now watch 2021 come to its welcome end, I think I'm safe in asserting that we’re a bit disappointed to still be living with not only the remnants of last year’s COVID troubles, but new strains of the monster threatening to follow us into 2022.... sigh !!!

As we work collectively to adopt new and improved ways to live with this virus and its variants in our midst, we must take proper precautions, then, we also must look beyond it and get back to living! And getting back to living will take varying forms for each of us – one thing that remains the same is, we’re all individuals – with our unique likes, dislikes, and unique dreams.

The thing with achieving dreams is, you may not be able to clearly articulate to yourself what it is that you want to achieve from one week to the next, to then ultimately complete your goal(s) for the year. This is where a little assistance from others who have been there and done that can get you reaching those goals in ways you couldn't imagine on your own!

Let’s look at that SMART goal setting strategy again – What is the first thing that you need to do to make this strategy work for you?

To make the S.M.A.R.T. goal setting strategy really work for you, let’s do something different to achieve a different result. Let’s really pick this thing apart and rebuild it to work!

Make it a specific goal – How specific can you be in determining what you want to achieve in 2022? Do you have clarity about the reasons you want to accomplish them? Have you thought about the reason this goal is important to achieve at this time in your life? You may have twelve mini goals that you would love to tackle at once, and it probably gives you a great rush to envision what could happen if you could accomplish them all in the coming year.

Well, it is healthy to have dreams and important to pursue short term and lifelong desires. However, I suggest that you start by really zeroing in on one of those mini goals. Focus on that prioritized goal, and only that one until it is achieved.

Multitasking is a very common practice . Human beings pride themselves in asserting their ability to manage many tasks at once. What you’ll often find with this approach, is that few of them are accomplished to satisfaction. Too many goals going in various directions, amounts to many unfulfilled goals. Multitasking certainly has its merits, but it is a skill that is mastered in increments. Tackle one goal first, make that one your priority,and follow it through to completion. Just know that once it is achieved you can quickly tackle and focus on the next one in line!

Make it a measurable goal – Chasing dreams without establishing a metric to guide you and to know where you stand, won't work. Be sure to establish a way to measure how much of your goal you expect to achieve in intervals that go along with the goal you're working on.

If your goal is to go on a dream road trip a year from now, you'll need to determine how much spending money you need to set aside every month in order to acquire your desired $1,000 dollars of spending cash in time to go on this trip in one year.

Now, how much exactly would you need to set aside at each of these intervals to save the $1,000 determined? Set aside approximately $85.00 every month for the next twelve months, and you'll have reached this goal with a few extra dollars.

Make your goal attainable – Simply put, an attainable goal is one for which you can access the right resources and tools. This is an aspect of goal setting that many tend to misunderstand and therefore misstep: If you're depending on others to collaborate with you to achieve your goal, you're asking for a major disappointment. Goal partners often have great intentions, but a little less commitment to someone else's dreams. The only way to ensure that your dream goal is achievable, is to be sure that you can complete all steps yourself if everyone else involved in this road trip were to bail on you.

This may also be a time to research activities in the area of your dream trip that offer opportunities for fun solo activities - just in case you do end up on a solo road trip, which by the way, could be a lot of fun! (But that is a topic for another conversation).

There is no point in frustrating yourself with a goal that you know you wouldn't be able to achieve on your own if you ended having to.

Make your goal relevant – You're probably gaining a better understanding now, of how this goal setting concept can be applied to truly work! If the goal is relevant to your life stage and to your current life conditions to begin with, you will be more likely to find the tools and resources that fall in line with your desired goal. As a Retirement Readiness coach, I can tell you, there's nothing more frustrating than to apply a career development type set of tools and resources to a Retirement goal! Remember that your project coach can quickly help you to look at your desires and establish with you whether they are relevant.

Finally, we must state it again- make your goal time-bound – The ultimate revelation here is this: if you have evaluated your chosen dream goal and you’ve been able to answer some real questions this process raises to yourself, your coach, and other collaborators, you will find that almost any goal is attainable given an adequate time frame and skilfully established mini deadlines. These are the skills that your life coach will teach you to hoan, to fit the level and magnitude of your goal.

Again, your best bet is to start with a smaller, clearly defined goal with which you can practice your developing skills of prioritizing, focusing, and consistency in implementing necessary steps.

A critical and very exciting dynamic begins to reveal itself at this stage of your process: once you’ve completed the first smaller and easily manageable goal, you’ve begun to build confidence to address larger goals later on.

If in any way, this process still feels daunting to you, it may simply be that the goal you've chosen to tackle will take a bit longer to align with your resources, finances and timeline. Sometimes you just can't help that a perfectly good and necessary goal may require teaspoon of realism, after having embarked on the task.

Dependent on your variables,there is nothing wrong with adequately determining that this may be a task to be completed in two years, instead of one. In such case, you then place a pin on that one, making note of all that was already accomplished toward it, and keep it on your list, so you can pick up where you left off at a later date.

Remember, this is where you check in with you life coach- and go back to your checklist: your comprehensive list of desires, and revisit another meaningful goal that you want to tackle for your next vacation...or the start of your retirement!

You don’t have to establish these long-term and short-term goals by yourself. You have trained professionals like your vetted life coach Mandy S. at your fingertips. It is now up to you to take that first, and super easy step!

Get in partnership with coach Mandy, who will easily align you with those tools and resources.

Let's get started with identifying, establishing and achieving your dream goals!

Coach Mandy S.