Set Yourself Up for Success in the New Year

• Pages: 33-36
• Date: 01 January 2025
• Published date: 01 January 2025
• Author: Erin E. Clifford
• Subject Matter: Administrative & Public Law

MENTAL HEALTH & WELLNESS

By Erin E. Cl ifford, Litigation News Contribut ing Editor

Set Yourself Up for Success in the

New Year

s a health and wellness coach, I nd the new year

makes for an ideal time to look inward to reect on

your past year and plan for the next. Allowing for

introspection grants you the opportunity to realign

goals and prioritize habits that promote self-

growth, work-life balance, and overall well-being. Follow the

framework below to jumpstart your success in the new year.

Revisit Your Profession al and Person al Goals

Revisit your goals by thinking back to the beginning of last

year and recalling what goals and priorities you set for your-

self. My recommendation is that you take time to write them

down and record your thoughts about them. Please be sure to

give yourself grace. Here are some prompts:

• What did you nd challenging?

• What goals did you accomplish?

• How have your goals shifted?

• Were there unexpected goals that you did meet?

• How happy are you with your progress?

If your goals and priorities no longer align with your cur-

rent lifestyle, set new SMART goals with the foundation of

building healthy habits.

Set SMART Goals

Working towards a goal—large or small—is fullling. Using

the SMART goal-setting structure will put you on track for

getting what you want in life.

SMART is an acronym for ve characteristics listed below

that are used to help guide your goal setting by creating an

action plan. You will be able to create clear, attainable, and

meaningful goals that include the support and motivation to

achieve your goals. SMART goals are effective in planning

both overarching and rened goals.

Overarching goals are set to help a person reach a desired

positive outcome. An individual may be focused on having

more work-life harmony, being healthier, or living more mind-

fully. Rened goals are set to achieve specic objectives for a

certain part of your life. Setting career goals is an example of

a rened goal. These goals can be short-term (e.g., obtaining

favorable outcomes in X number of cases) or long-term (e.g.,

making partner).

Either way, SMART goals must align with your values and

priorities.

Follow this SMART guideline to write out your goals.

Specic: Your goals must be clearly dened.

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