Don't Make Resolutions! Make SMART Goals!
Many people are out there talking about making resolutions for 2023. You may have already started on them. I mean, it makes sense, there’s a lot of pressure on people to try to start maintain these resolutions. Here’s the thing though. Throw all of those resolutions away. Who needs all of that negativity at the beginning of our year? Instead of making resolutions, start your year off by making SMART goals instead!
Don’t look at me like that. They are different. A resolution is a statement of what you want to change. For example, “I’m going to save money!”. This is too broad, especially for those of us with ADHD.
A goal is a statement of what you want to achieve; the steps you need to take to achieve it; why you need to achieve it: and when you want to achieve it by, and those last parts are integral to us as men who live with ADHD. We need a structured path forward so that we do not get overwhelmed by the enormity of the unanswered questions.
For example a SMART goal would be:
I want to save $500 by May so that I can go on the vacation that the family wants to go on.
Being specific helps prevent us prevent being burnt out and overwhelmed by our goals, which is the number reason many don’t follow through. This gives us the path and the why, and this is the framework we need.
SMART Goals and the Momentum Framework
SMART goal setting is an incredible way for people with ADHD to take control of their lives and focus on what matters most to them. It’s tough to juggle all the demands of daily life, but with clear, specific plans for achieving your goals, you can stay motivated and make progress towards your dreams. This means making sure your goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.
The Momentum Method is how we create a roadmap for success that will help us stay focused and use our momentum from each milestone to keep us on track. We have to remember that we can’t be afraid to challenge ourselves, but we also be realistic and consider your resources and limitations. Using the Momentum Method alongside our SMART goals allows us to break things down into manageable tasks that we can take action on consistently over time until we hit the milestones that we set for ourselves.
Specific
So what does Specific mean? This means to identify the specific outcome you want to achieve: Clearly define what you want to accomplish with your goal. For example, instead of setting a general goal of “exercise more,” set a specific goal of “go to the gym three times a week.”
By being specific, you can also see ways you can break the goal down into smaller, specific tasks. This can help you stay focused and make progress towards your goal. For example, if your goal is to save money, break it down into specific tasks such as “Save $50 from each paycheck,” or “Cut out unnecessary expenses, such as daily coffee runs.”
This also helps you prioritize things. When you break the goals down into smaller parts, you can see the step-by-step path and give yourself a clear priority list. This lets you see the milestones that you need so that you can celebrate the small wins along the way. By making your goal specific, you can better understand what you need to do to achieve it and stay on track. It also takes the guesswork out of the goal, so that you don’t get frustrated by moments of indecision on what you should be doing. Also, these smaller goals allow us to celebrate the small victories, which helps us keep the momentum going.
Measurable
Making goals measurable helps us really control the overwhelm. To make a goal measurable, you should be able to track your progress and know when you have achieved it. This allows you to celebrate the milestone you defined in Specific and capitalizes on your momentum.
By setting quantifiable targets, this can help you track your progress and see how close you are to achieving your goal. For example, instead of setting a goal of “improve my grades,” set a specific, measurable goal of “increase my GPA by 0.5 points.”
This means that you need to use some sort of tracking system: This can help you stay accountable and measure your progress towards your goal. For example, you could use a planner or a spreadsheet to track your progress, or you could use a habit tracker app to track your progress on specific tasks. This is an immense need for us, as we cannot trust our memory to track this. We need that external reminder of measurement to refer to.
Speaking of, you need to make sure that whatever you use needs to be accompanied by external alarms or notifications to follow up on them on a regular basis. Without these external reminders, our time-blindness will cause us to lose track of our goal until it’s too late to meet the deadlines that we’ve set up.
Achievable
We overthink things ya’ll, and we rarely have the self-awareness to gauge how long we take to do things or we overestimate how much we can get done in a given amount of time. However, we have to take the time to honestly gauge an accurate and achievable set of goals.
This goes back to being specific. By setting those small, achievable milestones, we can gauge and adjust our goals as we go forward and have a better understanding of how long it will take us to achieve the ultimate goal. Being able to see our progress (through tracking our measurements), this can help you make progress towards your goal and stay motivated. For example, if your goal is to run a marathon, start by setting a goal of running a 1k, then 5k, then 13k, and so forth. Each step forward is a cause to celebrate and evaluate your timeline for your end-goal.
Consider your resources and limitations: Make sure you have the necessary resources and support to achieve your goal. For example, if your goal is to get a promotion at work, make sure you have the skills and experience required for the new position. Is this achievable now? If not currently, you know the milestones that you need to achieve first, and you can prioritize them accordingly.
Relevant
Too often our impulsiveness moves us to make resolutions or goals based on what we see our friends or peers say that we should, or celebrities, or whatever influencer we have been watching until 3 A.M.. However, SMART goals need to be realistic and relevant to who we are. They need to be meaningful and aligned with your values, strengths, and priorities.
Why are you doing the goal? If you want to lose weight, is it because someone has shamed you into it? Or is it because you want to be healthier? It’s important to identify the purpose of the goal. How is it important to you and how does it align with your values and priorities?
For example, if your goal is to improve your physical health, consider how this goal aligns with your overall well-being and quality of life, it may not be that you need to lose weight so much that you just need to be more active. This difference may seem minor, but the results could be drastically different and one could be more attainable than the other.
Consider your long-term vision: Make sure your goal is aligned with your long-term vision and plans. For example, if your goal is to start a business, make sure it aligns with your career goals and overall vision for your life. We see a lot of different people out there peddling get-rich-quick schemes, and again, our impulsivity can have us spending money that could be used elsewhere. Setting out our goals ahead of time can help us fight back against that impulsivity and limit wasted resources.
Time-Bound
Deadlines! These are the bane of our existance as well as the driving force for many of our success. Our procrastination often has driven us through those last few hours to try to finish the work. The thing is, we can’t let that happen with long-term goals. The reason we have left this one to last is because the other parts lead to our end-game. The culmination of our success.
Many people out there will tell you to set a specific deadline, and you should. However, the more important deadlines are for the milestones that you set in the Specific step. Remember when you broke your goal down to manageable chunks? Those deadlines are the important ones. Our brains do not work like neurotypical brains. Our motivations are more in the short-term, and we have to treat our goals accordingly.
Breaking these goals down like you did also allows us to set firmer deadlines for ourselves to make steady progress on a regular basis, which is important for maintaining momentum. This momentum is what we use to keep going forward, and celebrating each milestone, instead of looking at the end-goal, is what keeps us grounded in the moment. Staying in the moment allows us to mitigate the overwhelm of how much we have left to accomplish.
So when you’re breaking down your goals, consider how consistently you can work on it. For example, if your goal is to write a book and your milestones are to write 10000 words a month; how many words can you write in a week? Remember to take into consideration Achievable and factor in life issues and taking consistent rests so that you prevent burnout.
In Conclusion
So don’t make resolutions for 2023! Make your SMART goals and remember to celebrate each and every milestone that you reach. Ride that momentum forward and do your best to stay motivated. If you’re struggling, remember that you can ask for help. You can get accountability buddies to help keep you on track. Especially if you’re in our Facebook Group or in our Discord channel (contact us for the link!).
Something to remember, though, is also to have compassion for yourself. Remember that each and every mistake is a learning opportunity, not a catastrophic failure. Set these goals, put them in place, get your resources together, and do your best to enjoy life. This is your year to take control of your goals and make them the success stories that you read about in 2024.
Shane Thrapp is a Certified ADHD Life, Relationship, and Career Coach.
Through his business, Creating Order From Chaos, he has helped hundreds of people find their paths through the chaos of life with ADHD and find their order and purpose.
He is also the Operations Director for our nonprofit Men’s ADHD Support Group, a board member for the Inattentive ADHD Coalition, and a public speaker who works to be a voice in advocacy for adult ADHD awareness.
If you want to help support our efforts, then please consider donating so that that we can keep Inspiring, Educating, and Empowering men to thrive with their ADHD.
