Road Map to a New Year

New Year’s Eve is creeping ever closer by the minute, and the beginning of a year is slowly rising on the horizon. It is that time of year for resolutions and marked change. If you are a gym goer, you know that it means waiting for a squat rack so someone can finish curls or attempting that awkward conversation to work in on a pull-down machine. Most people begin the New Year with resolutions and grand ideas of change; that sometimes fall short of the mark. At this critical point of the year, I suggest an alternative—instead of resolutions, write goals.

It may sound crazy, but please hear me out. I was 16 years old and had the opportunity to watch and listen to Jeff Hornacek from the Utah Jazz go through a shooting workout and then talk to us about improving as players. It was impressive to watch him make NBA three-point shots from every spot; one with no arch, one with normal arch; last one was a rainbow straight up and straight down. It was unbelievable to a sophomore in high school and completely in love with basketball. The pearl of wisdom that he shared had nothing to do with putting a ball in a basket but was something that has carried on with me ever since. The first thing that he shared was writing down goals and putting them somewhere you would see them every day. The second was setting goals that could be measured in a short interval.

Writing something down “sets it in stone;” it makes it tangible and real. Writing it means you thought about it and have dedicated the time to it which in turn means that you will value it and work to achieve it. Putting it somewhere you will see it constantly holds you to it like a contract. Seeing something daily becomes a constant reminder to work on or towards your goals; it won’t be forgotten or remembered after the fact.

Secondly, when writing goals, we tend to make them broad reaching (possibly with a little wiggle room so we can still meet them). Jeff's speech was about refraining from these type of goals. If you cannot measure them how can you work daily to ensure that you are achieving them? Obviously, it is a lot easier to count made jump shots and ups than it is to correlate to positive workplace interactions or professional communications. But I still think that premise is important, the more direct that we are and diligent in making things measurable, the greater the likelihood that we accomplish our goals. Jeff also talked about evaluating our progress in one month, three-month, 6 month intervals. When we break them down to these short segments, we can see the change and if they are working. Any time someone sees success, they are more willing to continue striving for that improvement.

Lastly, Jeff talked about unattained goals. He stressed the importance of self-realization—realizing when a goal may be too lofty or you need to work on some other aspect of your game. Adjusting or redirecting the goal and move forward is as simple as rewriting 1-month goals and moving 1-month goals to three months. This strategy allows for continuous growth and for redirection if needed; it’s a built-in safety net to keep you on track.

I have found through my career playing that I could improve in many areas of my game using these simple but profound guides. Conversely then in my fire service career, I have been able to achieve things constantly and grow consistently from this style of holding myself accountable. The process of writing goals and maintaining goals acts as a roadmap with check points and speed limits to keep yourself progressing towards your chosen destination. 

My hope with this blog post is that you opt for goals (action) instead of resolutions (statements). Resolutions are easily forgotten. If you want to true change in 2023, a simple set of written and measurable goals may be the exact change that allows you to achieve what you have set out to do.

Special thanks to Jeff Hornacek for this life lesson.

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Christopher Ayer is a Firefighter/Firefighter Type 1/Paramedic for Corona De Tucson Fire Department in Tucson Arizona. The expressions and views are those of the author.