When we become parents, it can be hard to focus on anything else but our babies. Sometimes, we take it day by day as every day can be different (maybe it’s just me?). Some days more productive than others. Since the new year is here, we want to make New Year resolutions, but this time as a new parent.

What does even mean? You know, besides surviving the first year (joking! No, not really)

How to make New Year Resolutions as a new parent

It’s so important for us to make New Year Resolutions to start the 2019 year off with goals that we want to accomplish during the year.

Having a child in the mix makes it even better. Now you can visit Legoland or Disney with your child and experience it from their eyes. During this first year, you’ll see them crawl, walk, talk, and start to eat solid foods. How exciting!

I’m just looking forward to Baby K doing all those things!

Enough about the babies, what about you and I? What kind of resolutions should we make for ourselves?

The answer is SMART.

Yes, literally.

SMART stands for:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Realistic
• Time-bound

For more information, you can google this term (as I did not make this term).

What are the goals and resolutions you want to make for yourself as:

• a parent?
• a partner or spouse?
• an employee or employer?
• a child of your parent(s)?
• a sibling?
• a friend?
• just you?

It is so easy to set goals and forget them, so using the SMART goals will help you to narrow down what you really want and when you want them to be accomplished.

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Let’s break SMART down some more.

Specific

What it is that you want to accomplish? What do you want to get done?

It is answering the 5 W’s and 1 H. You can answer the When with the Time-bound section.

Writing down what specifically you want to do and who will be a part of it will help you know the specific goals and accomplishments you want to be done by the end of the year (or by the time you set up for it).

For example, I want to finish reading The Five Love Languages book so that I can understand my and others’ love languages. This way I can understand how I best express my love towards my child and the people around me. Also, I can observe which love language they feel most connected to and use that to make them feel loved and appreciated.

Or I want to travel to Singapore with M and Baby K in the fall.

Go through what is in your head that you want to accomplish and write them down. You can cross them out later if it is too vague or you change your mind concerning that goal.

Measurable

How would you know if you’re making progress on the goal that you’ve set?

As a parent, if your goal is to make healthy meals for your family, you can say, I will make 4 healthy home-cooked meals every week by May of this year. You can then extend it to 6 by September, or the number that you have set it to be.

If you are an employee, you can work backwards with your projects. If you need to finish your project in 3 months, write down what needs to be done in 2 months, 6 weeks, 1 month, and 2 weeks. For example, you need a week to review your project, so by 2 months and 3 weeks, you need to have a semi-final version of your project.

Plan it out so that you know exactly (specific) what you need to do and also you can measure your progress following the steps you have laid out for yourself. When you know the plan, then you can figure out the next steps without it compromising time with your family and friends. Especially time for your baby!

Achievable

We are guilty of setting goals that sound so wonderful, but in reality, not that easy to accomplish.

Ask yourself, do you have the resources to be able to attain your goal? Do you have the time, money, energy, or people to help you reach what you want to do?

What do you need and how are you going to reach your goal?

For example, I want to decorate the house since I am on maternity leave. I think that I have the time, but between feeding, changing diapers, and taking care of the baby, I realized that I don’t really have a lot of time or the energy.

How do I plan to reach my goal? By using Saturdays and getting M to take care of the baby while I go out to buy supplies and work on little decorative projects such as these Dollar Tree gift baskets.

Write down what and who you need for your goal to be achievable.

Realistic

Ask yourself if the goal you set is realistic for you. You want to plan a 100-day party for your child and invite everyone you know. With the logistics for food, parking spaces or transportation, and other components for this party, you might want to think whether this is a realistic goal.

Ask yourself, does your goal make sense and realistic with you having a full-time job as a parent on top of everything else you’re currently juggling in your life?

Time-Bound

Not to be confused with “Measurable”, this one is specific to time. When do you want to accomplish your goals?

Give it a date. Write it out so that you can see it.

Back to my previous example, I want to visit Singapore with my family in the fall. When in the fall? September? October?

I need to also make sure that after I know the time, I can work my way back to get plane tickets, arrange for accommodations, etc.

When do you want to finish your project? When do you want to reach your goal?

Now what?

Now that you know how to make SMART goals, you can either write and organize them down on the Free Printable I created for you. Sign up to get access to my free printables.

As a new parent, it can be challenging to meet these resolutions as life with young children can be full of surprises. However, I believe that if you set your specific with a realistic vision in time, set appropriate timing and measures, and have the resources to achieve your goal, you can do it!

Please share this blog post if you find it helpful, especially for new parents.

Let’s have an amazing year, together! Sign up for free printables and to join my newsletter!