Four things to focus on as you set new goals for the new year

The new year often brings new goals, but if they’re not well thought out, you risk setting yourself up for failure. Here are four evidence-based factors for setting good goals.

1.    Specific and challenging: Goals that are too vague are less likely to be meaningful. Give yourself something concrete to shoot for.

2.    Not too easy, not too hard: If the target is too easy to hit, it won’t bring about much growth. But if it’s too hard, it will be tempting to give up.

3.    Important and attainable: A goal has to be impactful for a person to want to strive for it. But there also has to be a clear path for getting there.

4.    Process vs. outcome: Process-based goals (e.g., walk four times a week) are generally more effective than outcome-based goals (e.g, lower blood pressure) because outcomes are often affected by variables that are outside a person’s control.  

Read the full FPM article: “Goal-Setting Theory for the New Year.”