Tools for New Year's Resolution

The New Year provides new milestones in one’s journey. Whether one aspires to be a better version of himself or embark on a new chapter of his life, the new year provides a fresh start, a clean slate. This would be the ideal time to acquire new behaviors, discontinue flawed ones, and set new targets.

While everyone’s intention is clear at the start, research has shown that only a dismal 8% of the population fulfill their resolution by yearend. Perhaps the failure might be attributed to the will power. Or maybe, the chances were slim to begin with because there weren’t proper tools and strategies utilized.

Whatever your game plan for the year is, the following are tools and concepts that might be helpful in crafting meaningful and hopefully attainable goals for the year.

The Wheel of Life

Are you focusing on the right areas of your life? The wheel of life, a tool commonly used in coaching could be of help. It provides an overview of the different facets of one’s life such as spiritual, health, career etc. Here the different factors are assessed on a scale of 1 to 10. Any areas that are low or below one’s desired level can provide insight to the user on which life aspect he might want to focus for the year. Getting a low score in Recreation? Perhaps you might want to schedule a well deserved extended holiday for the year. Getting a bit of a challenge in financial area? Perhaps this year’s resolution might include acquiring income-generating assets or reducing unnecessary expenses.

Here’s a link to a sample Wheel of Life

https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_93.htm

SMART Goals

Goals are easier to monitor and achieve when they are made SMART- Specific Measurable, Action-oriented, Realistic Time bound. “Reduce weight” might be a noble goal but it is not going to be achieved if you don’t make it measurable. Perhaps you may want to rephrase it to “Reduce from 180 lbs to 160 lbs by June 30 2017.

Here’s a link to help you convert goals into SMART goals

https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/smart-goals.htm

VOC to CTQ

This tool is oftentimes encountered in the Define phase of Six Sigma. While its main use is to translate ambiguous customer requirements into internal characteristics, the same “translation concept” can be used to convert a seemingly ambiguous self- requirements into something easily tracked.

A goal of becoming a confident speaker for 2017 is ambiguous. It can be drilled down into something that can be easily monitored. Perhaps it could translated into something measurable like (1) having a certain number of speaking engagements, or (2) delivering at least five 7-minute spiels in front of an audience in the span of six months.

A guide for VOC to CTQ translation

https://www.isixsigma.com/community/blogs/six-sigma-basics-ctqs-and-voc-translation/

SWOT Matrix

The SWOT matrix assesses one’s Strenghts, Weakness, Threats and Opportunities. Frequently used by business in understanding the competitive market, there is no reason why one can’t apply it on a personal level. Consider this as an input if one is drafting a career goal. If your weakness is data analysis, you may want to enroll in a course that provides an overview on this. If you see an opportunity of your company acquiring customers from Latin America you may want to study Spanish to take advantage of the situation.

Sample SWOT Matrix

http://www.conceptdraw.com/examples/swot-matrix

Start Stop Continue

This a simple tool composed of three columns : Start, Stop, Continue. It is basically a reflection of existing behaviors. After a considerable reflection highlight behaviors that you will start doing for the year to achieve your goals. These are listed under the START column. There are behaviors that are already existing that you’d wish to continue on. These are written under CONTINUE. And then of course there are behaviors that might hinder you from achieving our goals. You should write them down under STOP (and of course commit to stop it) .

Sample Start Stop Continue

http://www.bu.edu/ctl/teaching-resources/start-stop-continue/

Hopefully with the tools outlined you are able to craft meaningful and attainable goals for 2017.

Here’s to a great year ahead of you, and may this year end with a better version of yourself.