For years I have my New Year resolutions written at the beginning of the year only to look at them again at the end of the year when I need to do a self-reflection. So this year I wanted to do away with such a pointless exercise. On the way back from the countdown celebration at the church that did not appear to be such a good idea to me initially for there were thousand and one alternative places to do the countdown had Cynthia not wanting to start the year in a holy way, something struck my mind. New Year resolution does not work for me because while I put all my heart and passion into formulating what bad habits to get rid of and what cool things to do, I lack the discipline to see things through. Then the New Year Eve sermon suddenly rang a bell – don’t see things that happened as failures but as feedback instead. That is very much like what I have been preaching to the military units and formations over these 2 years before I left my job – continuous feedback is important learning points, strategy execution is as important, if not more so, then strategy formulation, and a balanced scorecard can be used as a tool to enhance performance.
So, day one of year 2007, based on my New Year resolution, instead of a list of abstract things to do or not to do, I have come out with ten measurements. Detail explanation can be found in here.
| Category | Measurement | Frequency | Target | Stretched Target |
| Life | Traveling Budget Utilised | Half-yearly | S$3,000 | S$5,000 |
| Life | No. of Extraordinary Projects | Quarterly | 1 | 2 |
| Health | Exercise Hours | Monthly | 8 | 10 |
| Health | Percentage of Home Cooked Dinner | Monthly | 50% | 60% |
| Money | Return of Total Savings | Quarterly | 5% p.a. | 8% p.a. |
| Money | Career Fulfillment Survey | Half-yearly | 60% | 80% |
| Hobby | No. of Public Performance | Quarterly | 1 | 2 |
| Hobby | No. of Books Published | Yearly | 1 | 2 |
| Habit | No. of Hangover | Monthly | 2 | 0 |
| Habit | No. of Gaming Hours | Monthly | 40 | 30 |
First of all, the picture you put up was pretty, with all the snow around it. I saw the cross quite often but you made it look surreal.
Secondly, I think the resolution you made is tough, but achievable. They look so serious, with the balanced scorecard approach. I’ve never taken this approach before (hang on a sec, I _haven’t_ had new year resolutions for a VVVERY long time).
Well, I’ll support you all the way to achieve those targets. I can be an active participant or a cheerleader, but i hope to be the former when it comes to the holidays ! (heh heh)
Hey… I am surprised you took Balanced Scorecard seriously that you set your personal objectives and targets. Well done! 🙂
Hehe. All the best to you and cynthia for 2007 and may you attain “green light” for all your objectives! 🙂
Today, I was reading the Jan edition of Reader’s Digest and one of the featured articles is … (surprise!) “Discover A New You”. Inside, it talked about goal setting and the author suggested that the goals should be …
Specific – “Buy trainers and job 2 times a week” rather than “get fit”.
Measurable – “LOse 3 kilos” is a measurable goal with an end-point, but “lose some weight” is not.
Attainable – Set goals in tune with your strengths and weaknesses.
Time-specific – Time frames focus resolves: “To visit relatives overseas before the end of the year” rather than “as soon as we can”.
I think in some way, a scorecard approach put some structure to the above-mentioned points.
To Cynthia – The cross does look surreal, doesn’t it? Well, it is pretty huge to start with.
To Jann – All the best to you and your hubby for 2007 too! 🙂 I am not so sure about “green light”. I think 10 things to constantly look into is going to drive me nuts. But I guess these are the things I have been putting off for such a long time.
I must say that I am really impressed with this whole setup. This is one of the very frist blogs that I read, and well, it got me stuck for an hour (during office hours!!! Damn)
Nevertheless, it is insightful, and makes lots of sense for those who know Wilfrid individually. Keep it up dude.
Hey Wee Chuan. Thanks for dropping by and the kind words. Knowing that you don’t normally visit blog site, I am truly honored! Let’s catch up for beer real soon for some face-to-face real life updates!
Hey Wilfrid!
Great blog … and very cool post on your New Year’s resolutions. I like how you take Balanced Scorecard approach – got measurement and stretch goals somemore. I’m quite inspired to relook at my resolutions!
Hey Kae Fong! Ya, do it. Get some measurements out and start tracking them. Add more meaning to your resolutions. Seems that way to me so far.