Well, well, well, it’s that time of year again. December is coming to an end and the new year, or should I say new decade, is upon us. New Year is an exciting time in the world. Marking the end of one year and the beginning of the next. A lot of people equate New Years to a fresh start, or a clean slate.

This feeling of a fresh start gets people excited and motivated for bigger and better things.With that excitement comes new year’s resolutions. New Year’s resolutions are an interesting phenomena, so many people set out to accomplish their resolutions but fail to succeed.

The University of Scranton conducted a study that found that only 8% of New Year’s resolutions are accomplished and 80% fail to stick with their resolutions.

I found this statistic quite staggering and I began wondering why does this happen? Why do so many people get excited for a fresh start, create goals, and fail to accomplish those goals?

After conducting my research I found two primary reasons why people fail to accomplish their New Year’s resolutions. The first reason why people fail to accomplish their resolutions is due to a lack of specificity.

Create a Goal, Not a Resolution

One of the problems with resolutions is that they are too broad. Think about your resolutions from last year, where they broad or specific. If they were broad, did you accomplish them? What if they were specific?

A typical resolution could be something such as “This year I’m going to get in shape”. If this is your resolution then I fear that you may fail at accomplishing this goal. Not because it’s impossible but because it’s not specific. For instance, what does “in shape” look like to you? How are you going to meet that goal? How much time are you giving yourself to reach that goal?

You see, creating very specific goals will force you to think about your goal and the steps it’s going to take. The more detail you have the easier it will be to visualize the goal being accomplished.

I’ve found that the best way to design goals is with the S.M.A.R.T template. S.M.A.R.T stand for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time based. When creating your goal you want to make sure that all of these areas are covered.

Specific – Make sure your goal is detailed and meaningful.

Measurable – Be sure to include ways of measuring your goal. This will allow you to keep track of your progress throughout. For example, if you’re planning on getting “in shape” then consider setting a target weight/amount of exercises completed. For example, 50 pull ups. 

Attainable – Ask yourself if your goal is actually realistic. Do you have the resources necessary to reach your goal. A goal may be unrealistic for you but realistic for someone else in a different position, so try to not compare yourself to others.

Relevant– Is the goal you are setting out to accomplish relevant to your long-term goals? Creating relevant short term goals is one of the best ways to accomplish long-term goals.

Time Based– Create a time frame for accomplishing this goal. If your goal is to accomplish something in one year then you should consider setting mini goals. A mini goal is a subset from the overarching goal. For instance, you could create mini goals for each month that will keep you on track towards your annual goal.

Creating a SMART goal can have a huge impact on your success. SMART goals force you to develop your initial idea into a plan of attack.

Take a look at the two goals below from Brody & Mitch. Brody has a very broad goal and Mitch has a SMART goal. Who do you think has the better chance of succeeding?

Brody:

“In 2020 I will lose weight and gain muscle.”

Mitch:

“This year I will lose 20lbs of fat and gain 10lbs of muscle. I will do this by following John Cena’s workout/ nutrition plan and going to the gym 4 days a week. Every week I will weigh myself and keep track of my progress throughout the year.”

It’s pretty easy to tell that in this scenario Mitch is a lot more serious and has a higher chance of accomplishing his goals.

The second reason that many resolutions fail is is due to a lack of personal integrity.

Personal Integrity

To me personal integrity is being honest with yourself and doing what you say you are going to do. Personal integrity is a skill that requires practice and discipline.

A lack of personal integrity is the reason why it’s so easy for someone to skip the gym when they said they’d go, or spend a bunch of money when they said they’d be saving.

Training yourself to stay true to your word/goals will take a lot of practice and discipline. The good news is that you can improve your personal integrity. If you don’t like where you currently are with your personal integrity, then start working on developing this skill.

How to practice personal integrity:

• Start small, focus on accomplishing 1-3 tasks every day that you said you would do.
• Wake up when your alarm goes off, don’t hit snooze.
• Develop a routine. Humans are creatures of habit and routines can bring out good habits.
• Avoid people who lack integrity.
• Don’t overextend yourself, learn how to say no.

Developing your individual integrity will take time, but will pay off immensely. Having the ability to say you’ll do something and actually get it done is a fantastic recipe for success.

Closing Thoughts

This year, I want you to take this article into consideration and set out to actually accomplish your resolutions. Let’s start this decade off right and work towards accomplishing our goals. Create SMART goals and work on developing your integrity and you will see more success. 😄😄😄

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