Every year we have the same question, what will my New Years Resolutions be?
And, unfortunately, every year we usually have the same follow up question, why didn’t I stick to my New Years Resolutions?
Resolutions are notoriously hard to stick to, and the global statistics are not in our favour when it comes to the figures of them working out.
Why is this the case?
I think it is because we are setting the wrong goals for ourselves.
Very often we set goals that are more pipe dreams than they are real, achievable things for our near future. And while it is ok to have some further off, further down the road, goals for our overall lives, when it comes to New Years Resolutions, it can be much better to set things that we think we can really achieve.
This can mean breaking down the bigger, longer scale life goals into smaller, closer distance parts.
For example, if you want to go back to school and get your Masters degree, setting that for this year as a resolution might be a little tight. What you would be better off doing is setting a much smaller, much more attainable goal within this larger goal framework. So it could be that your goal this year is to apply for your Masters and really give the application your best shot.
It might not seem like a big exciting goal, but it really is. It will get you well on your way to achieving your bigger goal in reality, rather than aiming vaguely for that bigger goal and never reaching it. Smaller steady steps towards progress are always better than big leaps with no aim.
Our goals need to be S.M.A.R.T, an acronym commonly referred to in the fitness and self-improvement world. It stands for
S – Specific
M – Measurable
A – Achievable
R – Relevant
T – Time-Bound
If our New Years Resolutions don’t fit into this goal framework, we will need to give them a tweak. The goals that hit these categories are the ones with the highest chance of working out because they give us a fighting chance.
If your goal is specific, it is tangible enough for you to know where to make a start and how. If it is measurable, you can see your progress and you can know exactly where you are in the journey of meeting this goal. If it is achievable, of course, this is the only way, why would we set unachievable goals and end up inevitably frustrated with ourselves? If it’s relevant, that means the goal will make a difference in what we want to achieve. And if it is time-bound, it means that we can see a finish line ahead and we can see a real timeline of where we are going.
We can make any goal that we set, as long as we do it in the right way and it is the right goal, to begin with.
If you want a fighting chance of keeping your New Years Resolutions this year, make them S.M.A.R.T goals.
