For all of you that will read the Goal Setting Series and then still try to set New Year’s Resolutions then this post for you. The best New Year’s Resolution is to live a life where you do not need to wait for a New Year to change something. Alright this is obviously too general, so I will follow up with three components that make this theory/resolution attainable.

1. Challenge yourself constantly. Instead of waiting for a specific day to change something or improve an aspect of your life, try doing it all year round. In whatever you do in life make sure that you are constantly challenging yourself. If a certain goal or task seems too easy then raise the bar a bit. If you are a A student then setting a goal for yourself to get an A is a bit too simple because this is already the norm. Instead try taking one of the more difficult courses your program offers and strive for an A+.  No matter what you do make sure that you strive to attain the highest results possible at the most difficult tasks.

2. Do not wait. If there is something you really want to do or a goal you would really love to attain then just go for it. If you want to lose weight then why wait for January 1st? Really what is January 1st? It is just another day, with the only exception being that most people have the day off. Why not start something on December 28th or November 7th, really there is no need to wait for a specific date. If there is something you want to accomplish there is no benefit in delaying it.

3. Research, research, and research. I am always busy researching new ideas and how to improve current concepts. It’s easy to set a goal for yourself that you will save more money in 2009, but actually doing it is the difficult part. This is why I recommend research because on your own you may have a difficult time trying to save money, but with some research online through reading personal finance blogs and other resources you will find many new tactics for saving money.

That is all for the Goal Setting Series and I will be back tomorrow with a roundup with some of my best posts from 2009.

“Stimulate the progress, preserve the core”

This is a popular line that I’m sure many of you reading this have seen around the web. The reason that I find it relevant for the goal setting series is that many people will set goals which they will achieve. Chances are that the end result will be an improvement to yourself. Whether your goal is to save $10,000 or get an 90% average next semester, you will be better off than you were before you set the goal. Here are some tips for handling the success you attain from reaching your goals (Yes you will achieve your goals because the only person stop you is- you).

Stick to your fundamental values. Just because you improve one aspect of your life do not allow this to get to your head. It is alright to change small attributes about yourself but don’t go around altering or compromising your values. Remember that it’s your fundamental values that have brought you this far in life.

Improve your weaknesses over time. Once you achieve one goal you will suddenly realize that you have many more goals to attain. Don’t let this bring you down, just focus on slowly improving your weaknesses one goal at a time. Life is about constantly challenging yourself and you will never be perfect. When you think you are close to perfect on one subject you will suddenly realize you have so much more to learn about another subject.

Expand on your strengths. Once you set goal like saving a certain amount of money, think about how you could work on this strength by saving even more money. I always try to challenge myself when it comes to saving more and more money. Also when it comes to school; if you reach a goal of attaining an 85% average for the semester, why not challenge yourself next semester by aiming for a 90% average?

Do NOT judge others. Just because you hit a certain goal or target (you quit smoking or improved your grades by 10%) this does not mean you are better than those that have not hit that goal. Someone else may be content with their current situation or they may take longer to hit that goal. Some people could improve their grades by studying more, while others just have a difficult time improving grades no matter what they try.

Do NOT forget who you are and where you came from. You should congratulate yourself for reaching a goal, but don’t forget that just a few months earlier you were a bit worse off. Just because you were able to save $10,00 or lose 10 pounds it doesn’t mean you should act as if you were always in the position you are in at the present moment.

I will be back with a rare Saturday post tomorrow (is anybody else confused by what day it is due all these Holiday’s?) and the final edition of the Goal Setting Series. Please come back and consider Subscribing to Studenomics.

I know it’s New Years Eve and chances are that the great readers of this blog are preparing for a big night out. Whatever you do tonight make sure you make it count because you work so hard all year in in school and at work that you deserve a stress free night of drinking with friends and family! As for today’s post, I am going to talk about the inevitable when it comes to goal setting- failure.

There’s a 100% chance you will fail at least once. There you go I said it, everyone fails. I wish I could some how count the amount of times I have failed when it comes to attaining certain goals. Why do I admit to this? The reason is that I want to show all of that I am not some know-it-all sitting behind a computer preaching about setting goals and always attaining them. The fact of the matter is that we will all fail at something at one point or another. Now that we have established the fact that all of us will fail at one point or another, let me stay positive by showing you effective ways of reacting to failure:

Aim a bit lower. Maybe sometimes we are just too optimistic and have set our goals a bit too high. There is nothing wrong with being a dreamer, but dreams end and you realize that certain goals may be out of reach. I am not saying that you should set your standards low, just that you shouldn’t always stress about aiming really high.

Evaluate your goals. The reason you’re failing could be attributed to the fact that you have set the wrong goals for yourself. Maybe you are not meant for that new promotion at work or maybe you are not meant to go to the University you have in mind. Try sitting down for a few moments to decide whether you can set different goals.

Set smaller goals. As I have mentioned before I prefer to set smaller daily or weekly goals because they are easier to attain. Setting a large goal like planning on getting into Graduate School is a lot more difficult as opposed to focusing on each individual course on the road there.

Don’t let it bring you down. We will all fail at one point or another, so why let it bring you down? By slumping over every time things don’t go right as planned you will never overcome major obstacles in life.

That is all for today, hopefully your goal for tonight is to have an amazing time and that you don’t fail to meet that goal.

The purpose of this article is not to try to claim that I invented the S.M.A.R.T goal setting concept, it is to show everyone how easily applicable it is to one of most common New Year’s Resolutions or goals for young people- Getting higher grades.

Specific. Instead of setting a general goal of wanting higher grades, take an honest look at your course load and decide which courses you feel you could truly score A’s and which courses will be difficult and will result in a B. If a course is in a subject that I am not strong in then chances are I shouldn’t expect an A. By having a clear target I know what to aim for.

Measurable. Grades are extremely measurable because all you have to do is compare grades from the previous semester to the current semester. Make sure that you are able to watch the change occur.

Attainable. For me when I set a goal to attain a higher grade in a certain course I ensure that the subject is one that I have excelled at in the past. I do not enrol myself in the most difficult courses and go around claiming that I will score an A.

Realistic. The program that I am currently enrolled in really interests me so when I take Management or Economics course I honestly believe that I can score a high grade. When I take Finance or Accounting courses I am aware of the fact that these are my weaknesses so I still work hard but realize that I won’t be top of the class. There is no sense in lying to yourself by setting the bar too high/

Timely. Instead of stating you will get a higher grade in the course try setting goals for each time period. Meaning that you should try aiming for a certain target for midterm and then another target for a final grade.

This is just one example of applying the S.M.A.R.T goal setting strategy and I just wanted everyone to see how easy it is to apply this strategy if you actually sit down for a minutes to write everything down.

Welcome to day one of the “New Year Goal Setting Series” which will run all week from Monday until Friday. As I mentioned in a post last week I have deviated from my posting schedule only for the holiday season. For this very special first installment of the series I will discuss why it is better to set goals than resolutions during the New Year.

1. Resolutions are very general. Let’s be honest most resolutions consist of “I want to get higher grades” or “I want on saving a lot of money.” It’s great that you want to improve your situation but you are going to have a difficult time attaining such a broad resolution.

2. Goals are specific. Goals should always be S.M.A.R.T (tomorrows post topic) and a much more specific focus. For example a goal would state that “I want to score an 90% on my Economic’s midterm” which is more attainable than a general resolution of wanting to get higher grades.

3. Higher chance of success. You are more likely to reach a specific goal than an overall resolution. If you decided to make your New Years resolution that you will save tons of money, then as soon as you spend money you will feel as if you failed. An ideal goal would be to state that you plan on saving more or that you plan on focusing more attention on your spending habits.

Hopefully what I have stated thus far makes sense. If you agree with my theory of setting goals instead of a New Years resolution this year then here are a few more tips.

Don’t go over your head with goals. If you decide to set a few goals for yourself this New Year then please make sure that you keep it simple and don’t get carried away with the goals. The point of setting goals is so that you challenge yourself, not burn yourself out.

Set many small goals. The benefit of setting goals is that they can come in any form or size. I find that it is more beneficial to set many small goals that are attainable as opposed to large goals that may be more out of reach.

Think of the big picture. Always have the end target in mind while focusing on the small goals you have set. For example if you plan on saving $10,000 in 2009 then set monthly or even weekly goals. Every time you save an extra $50 or $100 think of the big picture which is your goal to have $10,000 at the end of the year.