January is always a time for New Year’s resolutions. People around us are talking about their new lifestyles; one person has decided to quit smoking, another person has decided to spend more time with his/her family and some even resolve not to have any resolutions at all. The same phenomenon takes place almost everywhere in the world.

While I was at the gym a few days ago (which was packed with people resolved to get fit in the New Year), I thought about defining my own goals for the year, and I wanted them to be great. Then I thought about what that means.

A goal should be achievable and is always well-defined. It must be measurable, otherwise you will not know when you have achieved it. Finally, there should be a time frame to achieve it, so you can keep yourself accountable. A great goal is challenging, but realistic.

I find it easy to set goals in work settings because I can target numbers and define a time frame to achieve them. I’ve set goals for my own sales figures, promotions in the office and customer satisfaction. At Meltwater, well-defined goals are part of our company DNA– part of our culture. We like to set high targets and we enjoy achieving them. In fact, we love to crush them. It’s part of what makes us successful. I believe that if you approach setting well-defined personal goals in the same way, you will have a better chance of achieving them.

I had a harder time, however, deciding what my personal goal for 2010 would be. I Googled popular New Year’s resolutions, but nothing inspired me. Then it struck me: in Finland we have two official languages (Finnish & Swedish) and I only speak one of them (Finnish). So my goal for 2010 is to speak Swedish by the end of the year. I’ll work diligently throughout the year, practicing Swedish using books and software 2-3 times per week. At the end of the year, in December 2010, I will plan a client meeting in Sweden and will have to speak Swedish the entire time- a final test that will determine whether I have achieved my goal or not. I’ll let you know how it goes.

So in 2010, I encourage everyone to set well-defined professional and personal goals and be proud of yourself when you achieve them.