It’s December 4, and this is my final evaluation of my 2011 resolutions. You can read my original 2011 resolutions here and my mid-year resolution evaluation here.

The problem with New Year’s resolutions is often that people think of them as fixed goals. People are more likely to succeed when they think of their goals as fluid, having the ability to change based on circumstances. For example, a person with a broken leg for the first half of the year probably isn’t going to be able to run a marathon in April. It’s not a failed goal; it just needs to be changed to later in the year. Then it can become a successful, attainable goal.

You might have heard this mnemonic before, but I’ll introduce it anyway. All set goals need to be SMART. Let’s continue with the broken leg example.

Specific: Answers who (you), what (the goal), why (are you doing this?), where (if applicable as in Philadelphia for a marathon), and which problems (current leg injury).
Measurable: Answers how (how much will you train? how many miles will you run? how will you know if you’ve met your time goal?)
Attainable: Is this goal doable? What specific practices do you need to implement in order to meet the goal?
Realistic: Can you realistically do this? Are there any/will there be any constraints that will keep you from meeting your goal?
Time-bound: Answers when (the goal must be met). Break down the when into smaller increments (eg, training every day but Sunday for the next 12 weeks). Again, evaluate whether this is realistic.

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The following is the year-end evaluation of my goals revised in June:

2011 Goals

1. Land an agent for my young adult novel. Build up clientele for book editing. I haven’t had a chance to tackle this yet due to financial and time constraints, but I do have a plan to implement this that will likely launch in 2012. And it won’t be just book editing. I also need to evaluate how I’m going to measure this goal, eg, “Obtain 2 clients for editing work by September.”
2. Exercise for at least 15 minutes 4 times a week. Exercise for at least 20 minutes 2 times a week. Exercise is my biggest challenge. I haven’t been able to even keep to this schedule. A more realistic goal would simply be to go to the gym once a week and exercise for 15 minutes.
3. Lose 25 lbs. Lose and keep off 10 lbs. I’ve actually gained 10 lbs rather than lost in the past year. I have joined Weight Watchers to rectify that.
   
4. Eat more salads and vegetables. As a result of joining Weight Watchers, it has forced me to eat more salads, fruits, and vegetables. A better defined goal would have been, “Eat salads, fruits, and vegetables at least twice a day five times a week.”
5. Complete the reading of 80 books. I have read less than 60 books this year because my life was so busy. Next year, 60 books is a more reasonable goal.
6. Relax on the Sabbath (Sunday). This is still a difficult one for me as I don’t know how to simply settle down and relax. It’ll continue to be a goal for 2012, however, I need to make it more specific as to how I can evaluate how I’ve successfully met this goal. It’s currently too broad.
7. Attend CCEF’s October conference in Louisville. I attended four weddings in New York and Florida this year prior to the conference. I wasn’t expecting that when I set this goal. As a result, I was tapped out for spending money.
   
8. Learn to be content with what I have and who I am. This is an ongoing process that God is still working on me. This goal needs to be more specific in how I can measure what it means for me to be content.
9. Spend more time Focus on building discipline with God through prayer and Bible reading. This also is an ongoing process. My husband and I have been good about prayer at night recently but I’ve failed at personal prayer and Bible reading. I need to make this goal a bit more measurable.
10. Attend morning church services at my home church at least twice a month. This is a goal that I’ve managed to attain ever since I began attending another church—praise God!
11. Write a post (nearly) every day once a week on different aspects of enjoying something that God is teaching/has taught me. I haven’t kept to this goal, mostly because I forgot about it or I just didn’t know what to write about. It was a good goal to reach for but in the end, my memory failed me.
12. Cut down on sweets aka be less addicted to sugar. Designate specific days for dessert and stick to it. I’ve failed at this and miserably. However, this goal will disappear thanks to Weight Watchers.
13. Read through three of the seven books in Chronicles of Narnia. Fail. I haven’t touched the Narnia books this year.
14. Hold scheduled write-ins at the library through the month of November for NaNoWriMo. Complete the rewrite of my novel before December 31. Fail. I hope to just begin working on the rewrite again before year’s end.

Resolutions, goals, target, etc. aren’t bad things to set at the beginning of the year, and they are not necessarily recipes for disaster or failure. It’s possible to create successful New Year’s resolutions, as long as they are:

• SMART
• Seen regularly (post them up on a wall with regular visibility)
• Evaluated periodically (revise biannually or quarterly)

I have a funny feeling 2012 is going to be a more successful year in regard to my goals.