It’s January 1, 2015 and so a new year in dog training is upon us. The holiday is a great time to spend with loved ones and for us to cherish our 2014 blessings, take pride in what worked for us during the past year and plan what we want to accomplish for the year 2015. If our 2014 Resolutions didn’t come to fruition the way we thought they should’ve, we can either come up with new objectives to accomplish them this year or consider changing the resolutions to make them more realistic and achievable.
Many folks make New Year Resolutions with good intent and others make them knowing they probably won’t keep them just like they didn’t keep the past resolutions. While others, “choose” not to make any resolutions. And, I use the word “choose” because not making a resolution is also a choice (that we control). A resolution is all well in good as it’s a firm determination to do something. But without action steps, resolutions often times turn into wishes. And, a wish is simply a desire for something without planning and working toward the end goal. A wish relies on some outside force to make it true. And, how often does that happen?.
Instead of making resolutions, what if we focused on goal setting? According to Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, “goal setting involves establishing specific, measurable, assignable, realistic and time-targeted (S.M.A.R.T) goals.” They need to be:
- Specific – What is it that we want to accomplish?
- Measurable – We won’t know the status in accomplishing the goal and whether or not the action steps need to be adjusted, without measuring the objective outcomes.
- Assignable – Who will take ownership for accomplishing the goal and objectives?
- Realistic – To be successful, goals need to be realistic. They can be broken down into achievable components with their own set of objectives.
- Time-targeted – Goals, objectives and action steps should have set completion due dates. We should begin with the end in mind as Stephen Covey says.
So what S.M.A.R.T. goals are you making for you and your dog this year? I’d love to hear them. Please contact us if Michigan Dog Training (MDT) can help to you accomplish your 2015 Dog Training Goals. We would also love to hear if you have goals in mind for MDT to accomplish this year.
Make it a great year for you and your dog!
