The SMART Way to Plan a Successful New Year (with Extra Capybara Cameos)!

Admit it, you’re already thinking about your goals for next year. But maybe you didn’t achieve your goals for this year - or maybe you don’t even remember what they were. How are you going to do better in 2026? I’ll tell you - with lots of gratuitous capybara examples!

In my last article, we considered the concept of no longer sitting around and “waiting for a prompt”, but instead taking charge and becoming the prompt writer in your own life.

(If you missed it, that article is here: How to Take the First Step Toward Your Dreams: Make This New Year the Best Ever)

So how will you become a prompt writer for your own life?

As with everything else in life, the keys to success are confidence, congruence, and consistency.

What does this mean?

• Confidence: Believe in yourself and know, deep down, without a doubt, that you can do this. This gets easier with…

• Congruence: Take actions that are aligned with your values. This requires doing a full assessment of yourself. People are often surprised by what they discover when they do a deep dive into the intrinsic beliefs and ideals that subconsciously affect their lives.

• Consistency: Show up and work on your goals daily (or regularly on a preset schedule) and with commitment - which is also easier with congruence. When you passionately believe in what you are doing, you will keep doing it no matter what!

Now is a great time, over the holidays, to really dig into who you are and what you want for yourself. (Or whenever you are reading this it’s always a good time to start.) Make sure to focus on what you do want, not what you don’t want.

For example, perhaps you want to become a capybara farmer. Focus on that positive outcome. Don’t waste your time thinking about how much you don’t want to spend another day crying due to the lack of bristly fur under your fingers, or how much you hate that feeling of jealousy when you watch someone else feeding a capybara on social media.

Make sure you have a positive outcome that is aligned with your true values (what you really feel and believe, not what society or your family or your friends or social media or anyone else tells you is what you “should” believe).

Once this is set, plan a strategy to actually meet your goals. This will involve more than just writing your resolutions on a piece of paper on New Year’s Eve and then forgetting about them after the first two weeks of the new year. (Hey, I’ve done it too!)

One of my favorite approaches for goal achievement is known as SMART. This stands for:

• Specific: What exactly do you want to achieve, in detail?

• Measurable: How will you track your progress? How will you know when you have reached the outcome you want?

• Achievable: Do you have (or can you acquire) the resources you need?

• Relevant: Does this goal align with your values?

• Timebound: What is the deadline for completion (and for milestones along the way)?

Let’s investigate the use of SMART goals with a fictional example. (You already know it’s going to involve capybaras.)

• Specific - I want to own 2 adults and 1 baby capybara. (Follow up goal: To use the capy family in a future capybara themed wedding. Follow up follow up goal: To have a love interest that I want to marry.)

• Measurable - I will spend 2.37 hours each day researching capybara care, calling around to capybara suppliers, and investigating the use of a capybara rental agency to practice with capybara models. I will know I have achieved my outcome when my weekly purchase of Ol’ Roy Capybara Chow has increased to be greater than $0 and my day includes at least 1 capybara cuddle.

• Achievable - I live in a state where it is legal to own capybaras and I have enough love in my heart to welcome them into my home. At those times when my laundry room floods, it will make the perfect water enclosure for them. I can use the internet for lots of capy research!

• Relevant - I am passionate about capybaras, and owning some would give me more material for Substack articles. It also aligns with my values of compassion (for animals) and creativity (with capybaras).

• Timebound - By the end of 2026, I will have at least 2 adult capybaras! Further research is required to determine how long after that it will take to get 1 baby one. (But I have 2.37 hours each day planned out for that.)

(Disclaimer: This is a fictional example. Please do your own research into capybara feeding and care, and do not use this document as a guide.)

Now is the time to get ready to move into the new year with: a deep understanding of your values and beliefs, predetermined goals with a positive outcome aligned with what you truly want, and a proven strategy for success (such as SMART goals). You’ve got this!

As you plan for the holidays and the new year ahead, what actions will you take now to explore your values, set actionable and achievable goals, and build up your confidence?

Why not make 2026 your best year yet? I believe in you!

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