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Goal Setting Tips!

Happy New Year’s! This is a popular time of year to set goals or make resolutions. Some people make resolutions and some don’t, but I think setting goals is important any time of year and wanted to focus on goal setting today.

goal setting

I recently asked readers what goals they have for the year, and many people mentioned saving money, getting organized or losing weight. Goals are so important to live a frugal lifestyle and save money, because if you know exactly what you want, it’s easier to find a way to achieve it. Here are some tips about setting goals.

Why should you set a goal? Goal setting is motivating and helps you focus on the important things in life. Goals helps us take action and achieving them builds self confidence.

How do you make a goal? First think about the ‘big picture’. What do you ultimately want in areas of health, finance, career, family, pleasurable activities and public service? Then, break the ‘big picture’ goals into smaller, short term, achievable goals.

What makes a good goal? One guideline for setting goals is to make them SMART and write them down, because you will be more likely to achieve them. What is a S.M.A.R.T goal? Note – this acronym was created by George T. Doran in 1981.

S – specific
M – measurable
A – achievable
R – relevant
T – time bound

For example, “I want to spend less money” is not a SMART goal. However, “I will decrease my spending by 10% by March 1” is a SMART goal. Another example: instead of ‘I want to lose weight’, a SMART goal would be ‘I will exercise three times a week for at least 30 minutes’. Both SMART goals are realistic, measurable and achievable.

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What happens after setting a goal? An important part of goal setting is keeping the goals in a visible place and reviewing and updating them frequently to stay on track. If they are important to you, then treat them as such and you will achieve them.

Here are some of my goals for 2009:
1. Write at least one blog entry every day in January.
2. Read 50 books in 2009, or approximately 1 every week. I love to read and have a long list of books I want to enjoy this year.
3. Review and adjust the family budget at the end of every month starting immediately. We are really good about keeping track of spending, but don’t always review it as often as I’d like.
4. Clean and organize the basement by March 1, 2009. I will spend at least 1 hour every week working towards this goal. I really want a family area and play room in the basement.

These are some of my goals and I hope this post helps you set your goals and achieve all you want for this New Year.

Please share your goals for the New Year!

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