Realistic New Year goals - How to set them and stick to them
It’s disappointing. You’ve gone and done it again. You’ve broken your New Year resolutions just a few days in. But hang on a minute - were you really going to completely change your attitude to exercise, transforming yourself from a regular human into a superhero within a few weeks? Probably not!
If you fail every year and you’d like to do better next time, here’s how to actually set resolutions you can achieve - and feel great about yourself.
Set goals like a business – Make them SMART
Businesses set goals and they do it in a very specific way. Business goals are SMART, which means Specific, Measurable, Assignable, Realistic and Time-related and it makes a lot of sense. For a start, make your new year resolutions SMART so you’ll set yourself up for success.
It’s hard to reach a wishy-washy goal, so make yours specific. You won’t know you’ve got where you want to be unless you know what success means, which is why measurable goals are so much better. Assignable isn’t so important in a New Year resolution context because you’re assigning the goal to yourself. But ‘realistic’ matters – given the resources you have, are you likely to succeed? Lastly the best goals are time-related, where you set a realistic deadline to aim for rather than leaving it open.
Elephant sandwiches
The next tip is not to set yourself up for a fall. Think elephant sandwiches, the only realistic way to eat an entire elephant. If your goal is to get fitter, make it a bit fitter. There’s no need to aim to be the fittest person on the planet. Maybe you could vow to take a brisk walk after work every day whatever the weather, rather than go to the gym every night... which you know, deep down, there’s no way you’re going to do. If there’s something you really want to give up, perhaps you could cut down on it gradually instead of going cold turkey on the first of January.
Set a few goals, not loads
Look at your list of resolutions. If you’ve jotted down more than three different things to tackle, it’s time to knock the rest off the list. Ideally pick one resolution, maybe two, rather than a boatload of them. If you feel relieved afterwards, you’ll know you’ve done the right thing. You’re only human, you only have so much time and energy, so be easier on yourself. You’ll be more likely to hit the mark when there’s a realistic number of marks to hit.
Be yourself
Are the goals you want to set going to help you achieve something you’ve always wanted to do, or make an aspect of your life better? New Year resolutions aren’t about changing your fundamental self. It should be more about embracing who you are, giving yourself goals to help enhance life rather than completely changing it.
Setting positive goals
Why are so many New Year resolutions about giving things up, giving yourself a hard time, being strict with yourself? It’s no fun and if a goal isn’t enjoyable, it’s even tougher to reach because your motivation levels are far from sky high. Give yourself fun things to achieve and you’ll get there faster, you’ll enjoy it more and it’ll inspire you to even greater things.
Maybe you want to spend more time outdoors, eat healthier foods, enjoy more time with your family, set up a better skincare routine or sleep better. If you’re passionate about it, you’re a lot more likely to do it. If it’s genuinely meaningful to you, you’ll dedicate more effort to it.
Can you spread it over the year?
Say you’ve set yourself one big resolution. It can feel daunting when the excitement has died down, so maybe split it into chunks. Perhaps you can achieve part of the goal in the first three months of the year and hit the final mark in December, giving yourself an entire 12 months rather than just a few weeks.
Learn about how to change habits effectively
It’s a challenge to change a habit, which is why habit-changing is such a big deal in business. Coaches are employed to help people change their habits and there are loads of courses online about how to master it. Changing in isolation, when you don’t replace the habit with something better, is really hard to do. The best way to change a habit is to exchange it for a new, more rewarding habit. Can you do that?
It isn’t ‘all or nothing’
Life isn’t perfect, nor are you. It’s good to know because it means you can be more forgiving of yourself. So what if you miss one of your self-imposed deadlines? So what if you slip up? The world won’t end. Don’t give up, give yourself a pat on the back and carry on. Most goals are journeys rather than destinations, so enjoy the ride.
They’re your goals, so don’t let them menace you!
Lastly, remember you’re the boss. They’re your goals, set by you. You’re in charge of them, they’re not in charge of you. Don’t let your resolutions turn into nightmares. If it all gets a bit much you’re entitled to cross that resolution off your list - and never let it darken your doors again.
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