How do you make your New Year’s resolutions stick? First, your recovery goals must be realistic. You may find it helpful to use the acronym SMART when setting your new goals. These goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
When developing your SMART goals, try to make sure they meet these parameters:
Specific: Provide enough detail so that there is no indecision regarding what exactly you should be doing.
Measurable: When you can see measurable progress toward your goals, you can mentally take note of change as it occurs. A quantifiable goal has an outcome that can be assessed as a success or failure, or on a sliding scale.
Achievable: A goal should be feasible given your current economic, social, or cultural resources and time available.
Relevant: Relevant objectives should answer a few questions. Ask yourself why you should pursue this goal and what the impact will be on your life when you do.
Time-bound: Set a time frame for your goal. You could aim to get it done next week, next month, or in three to six months. Setting an endpoint for your goal gives you a clear target to achieve. Of course, some goals will take longer to achieve than others.
Elim Clinic is a professional treatment centre that offers various treatment options to those who suffer from substance use disorders and behaviour addiction.
Tel: +27 (0)11 975 2951