By Steve Frey
Do you make new resolutions each year about this time? It has become almost a joke, since most people end up breaking them or forgetting about them within a matter of weeks. Let’s examine this tradition a little closer.
First, it would probably be best to think in terms of goals rather than resolutions. Resolutions are grand statements about what one wants to achieve in the end but do not include some critical aspects of goal-setting that help you actually get there.
Are your goals clear and realistic? It would be great to be a major league baseball player, hitting 60-70 home runs per year, or a professional swimmer like Michael Phelps, but no matter how many hours one might spend at the Radford Recreation Center lifting weights or at the Christiansburg Aquatic Center swimming laps, those goals will probably not be achieved. However, a person could realistically try to lose some weight and improve his overall fitness level.
Are your goals measurable? For example, sticking with that fitness goal, it would be easy to measure the amount of weight loss, the body mass index level, energy level in the afternoon, etc.
On a larger scale and with the case of economic development, one could measure the number of new businesses started during a fiscal year, but what if just as many businesses left? That’s why it’s important to be clear about what you want to achieve.
So how does one specifically define what should be measured to achieve the goal? With economic development, for example, the measurement may relate to an improving ratio of new jobs vs. lost jobs in a city such as Radford. Perhaps it would connect to the number of sales in a downtown district such as Christiansburg as measured by increasing sales tax revenue.
Set short-term objectives, too. If a goal is for the year, where do you want to be quarterly or by the end of regular time increments along the way? What are the action plans developed to achieve the goal and how are they monitored?
For example, if the intermediate school in Radford decided to improve math achievement, how would teachers keep track of growth throughout the year. It would be foolish to wait until the end of the year or state evaluation to find out how the students are doing. Regular assessments of data throughout the year would let educators know that the students are, indeed, moving in the right direction.
Which brings us to the next ingredient: flexibility. In “The Seven Habits of Effective People,” Stephen Covey described a house painter who worked hard, did excellent work and finished the job ahead of time, only to discover he had his ladder on the wrong wall.
Make sure the action items you choose to achieve your goal are actually helping you get there through regular formative (along the way) assessments as opposed to one end of the year (summative) check where you find that the activities you chose were not productive. If you discover you’re on the “wrong wall,” be flexible and change course.
In a fiscal year that ranges from July 1 to June 30, this would be an ideal time to review, modify and initiate goals. For example, how many successful new programs has the recreation department created this year? How are the plans for the renovation/expansion of schools moving along? How are the branding efforts for the community’s economic development plan progressing? What new festivals/events/activities have been planned for Radford this coming spring, summer and fall to focus on the river and its position as “Virginia’s River City” in the heart of the NRV? How are leaders joining together to promote needed increases in state aid for schools in Southwest Virginia? Are municipalities moving toward renewable energy to lower prices for consumers, attract business and improve the environment? These are just a few possible actual or new goals.
Resolutions are fine, but unless goals are clear, measurable, realistic, monitored/assessed, flexible and broken down into action items to help achieve them, it could be easy to fall into the same old pattern of failure. Why not set those goals with the supports necessary to reach them and then, like the old Nike motto used to exclaim, “Just do it.”
Heck, with a little natural ability and hard work, you may be hitting 70 homers a year in the majors next summer or winning seven gold medals in the next Olympics.
Well, maybe not, but perhaps you could actually lose those 15 stubborn pounds you’ve created resolutions about for the last four years or so. It’s worth a try!
Steve Frey is a writer and CEO of Ascendant Educational Services based in Radford.
