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Notes from the Payroll Prof
by Roger A. Smith, CPP & Payroll Consultant
“SMART New Year’s Resolutions”
“Happy New Year!” In addition to party hats and champagne toasts, those words also bring to mind New Year’s resolutions. For many of us, New Year’s resolutions are an annual ritual of committing to self-improvement. However, studies suggest that as many as 90% of us break our annual resolutions and only achieve guilty feelings from falling short.
I’d like to suggest that New Year’s resolutions are simply objectives, similar to business objectives which are part of an organization’s strategic plan. New Year’s resolutions should be personal objectives, which, just like business objectives, support a strategic plan – in this case your own personal plan. And, just like business objectives, personal objectives should be “SMART” objectives. As we know from strategic planning, “SMART” objectives are:
- Specific – not general.
- Measurable – so that you know when you are successful.
- Agreed upon – in the case of personal objectives, you need to agree with yourself – in other words, commit to the objective.
- Reachable – while they need to be challenging, nothing will be achieved if the objective is unreachable.
- Time specific – commit to a target date to achieve the objective.
In addition, I believe that “annual” resolutions or objectives are too infrequent and generate large objectives that may seem insurmountable. However, broken into 12 pieces, the large objectives become much more attainable. Also, achieving the monthly objective can lead to more success, rather than a feeling of frustration for not achieving the large annual objective. I would recommend monthly objectives, or more frequently if necessary.
The table below contains suggested improvements from “weak” resolutions to SMART objectives.
| Weak New Year's Resolution |
"SMART" Personal Objective |
| I’m going to lose 20 pounds! |
I will lose 2 pounds by the end of January. |
| I’m going to save more money. |
I will increase my 401(k) contribution by 1% starting January 15. |
| I’m going to spend more time with my family. |
I will commit to a family night every Monday starting January 7. |
| I’m going to replace that old time and attendance system. |
I will complete a needs analysis for a new time and attendance system by the end of January. |
| I’m going to get organized. |
In the next two weeks, I will clean out two file cabinets and throw out anything I don’t need or can access elsewhere. |
Have a Great 2008 and best wishes on achieving those monthly objectives!
As always, if you have any questions or comments, my email address is Roger.Smith@PayrollProf.com.
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