It’s 2019 and well almost February 2019 and what New Year resolutions have you set and have you met any? As trite as setting goals might seem the very act of writing down or telling someone your goals means you are more likely to achieve them. But what about a plan to make them happen?

Person-centred practices in Aged Care are about including the person requiring care in the shape, frequency and outcomes of the support they would like to have. It’s about creating a plan with the person requiring care based on their individual needs and preferences and of course their personal goals.

It’s also about re-enablement. Re-enablement is a pathway to return to what’s a normal practice for you. For example, if you’ve recently been hospitalised after a fall, a path to re-enablement might be about the supports you need to regain your mobility and confidence to returning to walking without an aid around your home and establishing a tailored exercise program. All of this is individual  and all of it is goal oriented but how do you set goals?

SMART

Even if you’ve heard of SMART goals it pays to have a reminder and think about how you might use SMART goals to achieve your goals. SMART is an acronym for a scaffolding to help you achieve your goals.

S – for specific
M – for measurable
A – for achievable
R – for relevant
T – for timely

So thinking about your personal situation what would you like to change or achieve? Perhaps it’s a visit to an interstate or overseas relative? Perhaps it’s just a phone call – tracking down someone who you think about but haven’t spoken to for a long period of time.

Whatever goal you choose it needs to be really specific. For example: Finding the number for a school friend who now lives in England and calling them up. That’s pretty specific. And it’s easy to measure – so that ticks off the ‘M’. It’s certainly achievable – that’s the A. And it needs to be relevant, perhaps you haven’t spoken to your friend in 30 years or more. Finally you need to set a time – I will find his number with the help from my grand-daughter and call him before the end of January. Eeek you’ve only got a few days to go so get to it!

It’s never too late to set goals – regardless of your age or the time of the year but the New Year does provide a reminder to think about your resolutions and what you really want to achieve. [read on]And remember, goals are important at every age. They give us purpose and remind us to keep on striving.

What’s your goals for 2019?