New Year’s Resolutions: Making Your Goals SMART and Emotionally Healthy
Posted: January 19, 2021
By: Janelle Schlueter, MS, LPC, NCC, CCTP
Happy New Year! It's that time of year when most people are setting some goals. Are you setting a New Year’s Resolution for yourself? Or are you like many others in that you already set a resolution and failed (fell off the diet wagon on day three). One thing is for sure, the pressure of a New Year’s Resolution is more intense than setting a goal any other time of year. Let’s talk about how to set a healthy New Year’s Resolution that will make it more likely to be successful. Ready? Get Set. Let’s Go!
Reduce the Pressure of Goals with One Word!
Change the word from ‘resolution’ to ‘goal’. The word ‘resolution’ implies something absolute, concrete, all or nothing. There is no room for error or acknowledgement that there is work to achieve it. The word ‘goal’ implies that there are things we have to do to make this goal achievable. The goal is not going to achieve itself. New Year’s is just another day, you can set a goal on January 1st just the same as any other day!
Be SMART About Your Goals
Both people who work in business and therapists would agree that using SMART goals results in a higher rate of success. When setting a goal, keep SMART in mind:Specific
Keep in mind the outcome you are looking for and use numbers to keep your goal specific. For instance, your goal may be to decrease the number of panic attacks you experience by 50% in 6 weeks.Measurable
Making your goal measurable you will know if you are on track throughout the process. For example, if you average 10 panic attacks per week, at the end of the 6 weeks you should be experiencing around 5 panic attacks or less per week.Achievable
Goals need to be achievable and realistic. Make sure you do not set yourself up for failure. Setting a goal of having 0 panic attacks in 2 weeks would be unrealistic and may put too much pressure on you. Therefore, setting you further back in treatment.Relevant
Is this goal something you really want to achieve or is it someone else’s goal for you? Do you have the emotional or physical energy to give to this goal and the activities that you will need to do? Is this the best time to work on this goal or should you wait until you are better prepared?Time-sensitive
How long are you willing to work on this goal? How often are you willing on doing what needs to be done in order to achieve this goal? When is the due date for this goal? Once you have made your goal SMART you can see it will be much easier to achieve!
Make Sure Your Goals Are Emotionally Healthy
In order to make sure your goals are emotionally healthy you must take time to ask yourself why you are setting these goals. If the answer is 100% for you and not for anyone else, it is probably healthy. Is setting the goal going to improve your quality of life, it is probably healthy.
If you follow the SMART goal method and are choosing goals that are for you and to benefit your quality of life, your goals are much more likely to be emotionally healthy. If you are unsure on what goals to set, how to set them, or feel that you may need to do to be better prepared emotionally before working on goals….
Go To Counseling!
Counseling can help with many issues that you may find yourself struggling with, such as: anxiety, depression, lack of coping skills, communication issues, relationship struggles, history of trauma, obsessive compulsive disorder, sleep issues, addiction, and so much more. Seeing a counselor can help you identify areas that you would like to work on and set SMART goals with you. As a counselor who specializes in trauma, I see a lot of clients who try to push away traumatic memories for so many years until they cannot function anymore. Don’t let that be you. If you are struggling emotionally, get help! You have one life, make it one where your mind is a safe place to be.Begin Counseling at Our Center in Katy, TX
If you are ready to find help in identifying and working on SMART goals for your mental health, the therapists at The Counseling Center at Cinco Ranch can help! We provide therapy to people of all ages. To begin counseling in Katy, TX, follow these three steps:- Contact our office to set up an appointment or to get more information about the different therapies we offer
- Meet with one of our caring therapists
- Find peace with counseling!