Summary: Get my take on why I believe New Years Resolutions are overrated. As a goal setter and list maker myself, I’m excited to to bring this conversation to you. This post will leave you with helpful tips to help you work towards any goal you have, no matter the time of year.
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Happy New Year!
If you’re anything like me, it’s time to sit down with a cup of coffee and reflect on the last year. What went well, what could have been better, where do I want to grow and what do I want to do in the next calendar year?
And after reflecting on these questions, the number one thing to do is make a New Years Resolution. In fact, upwards of 74% of Americans make a New Years Resolution. They have the desire to learn something new, make a lifestyle change, or set a personal goal for themself.
The flipping of a calendar into the new year gives us the illusion that it’s a great time for a “fresh start”. But January 1st is not the only time that it’s great to make a fresh start. In fact, it may be the worst time to do so.
The holiday season is a season of lots of change. Change in routine, eating and drinking foods that aren’t your usual, time off work, time away from the gym, and more. It can be hard enough to go back to what you were doing before the holidays, let alone start with something new.
Research shows us that 80% of New Years resolutions fail by mid February. But why? Well, my opinion is that we force change upon ourselves because the calendar flips to January 1st. Not because we’re ready.
But what about the whole “start before you’re ready”? I hear you. But disagree. (Sort of..)
The most common things I hear from people about the end of the holiday season is:
- -they feel overwhelmed coming off the holiday season
- -they feel stressed about getting back into a routine
- -they feel guilty for “cheating” and being away from their normal lifestyle
- -they feel exhausted (Mom’s who made the season magical- I see you).
I don’t know about you, but those feelings are not the ones I want to be feeling when I’m trying to make a change in my life.
Change is hard enough as it is. Without the right mindset and support around you, the chances of successfully implementing said change feels slim to none.
If you want to work on being a healthier you, a fitter you, have a morning routine, or whatever else you have in mind, that is GREAT. But don’t make it harder on yourself to reach those goals.
There are better ways to go about it, and ways that are more likely to work than making a New Years Resolution.
That’s why I love goal setting.
3 Tips to Make your Goal Setting Successful
1. Realizing that you can change any day, not just on January 1st.
I know it sounds appealing. Everyone’s glamorous new year plans are all over instagram and you want to have yours too. But January 1st isn’t the only day.
Why not January 5th? Or August 15th? It doesn’t matter the day. But what does matter is that you make goals (or resolutions) and go after them when the conditions are right.
Don’t set yourself up for failure. Creating goals that are realistic for you to hit makes it much easier for you to succeed.
If you’ve never walked into a gym, maybe don’t start with a resolution of squatting 500lbs by the end of the year. (unless you create little goals to help you reach the big goal– but that’s a conversation for another time!) Could you get there? 100%. But it’s daunting. And big hard goals like that make the day to day grind of hitting that goal seem impossible when you’re so far away.
Start by making goals that help you build habits. Set yourself up with a good foundation. Allow your habits to flourish into more and more so that you can continue hitting whatever next level you’re after.
As you hit your goal, make new goals. Do this throughout the year- even if it’s not January 1st.
2. Letting your goals adapt and change with you
Have you ever made a goal, hit it and nothing else in your life changed while you work towards it? Unlikely.
What’s more likely? That as you worked toward your goal you learned along the way that other things needed to change in your life to support you in hitting your goal.
You want to start exercising. Great- but you can’t just start. Some people would argue that you can- but I think the “just start” mentality sets us up for failure.
I would agree, you don’t need the fancy shoes or outfit to get started on your exercise journey. But, if you want to start exercising, you need to think about how you’re going to fit it into your life. For example, you need to make the time for it. So if you’re making time for it what are you giving up? Giving up TV time? Giving up sleep? Giving up time with your kids?
We often lack the support we need to carry through with our resolutions. Sometimes that’s accountability and sometimes that’s the tools and resources. But regardless what you’re lacking- you can create it. You just have to think about what works in your life.
Maybe you want to workout but you feel that would require giving up time with your kids. Solution: Include your kids in your workout. Is that how you envisioned your workout going based on the influencers or social media? Maybe not. But for right now is that practical for you and helps you get closer to hitting your goal? 100%.
Hitting your goals doesn’t have to be pretty. But, by thinking outside the box and looking at how the goals actually fit into your life and making a plan for that, you’re way more likely to find success.
Whether it be in my own life or in the lives of people I work with I have found it’s so much more successful to start with smaller goals and build on them.
Take the time to learn from your journey. Did you have the support to complete your goal? What season of life are you heading into next? And how can you take those things and allow it to elevate you?
Use what you learned and PIVOT to make that next goal that’ll take you to the next level.
Starting with smaller goals that can adapt and grow with you as you and your life changes is the key to not only making your goals a success but helping you get the most out of them.
3. Digging into the WHY behind your goals
It’s so easy to quit.
If you don’t have a why, or something that grounds you to what you’re doing. When it gets tough (which trust me it will), you’ll want to quit.
Your “why” can be about anything. But I have found over the years, when you tie your why back to yourself- it’s so much easier to crush whatever you’re working towards.
Don’t workout because you want to have nice abs for the boy you like. (I mean, you can…). But it’s much harder to stick with than working out because you want to.
Whether it’s health related or anything else. Change doesn’t happen over night. It takes time and repetition to make whatever this new goal/change/resolution is to stick around.
On average it takes 21 days to build a habit. And even then, I would argue that it’s a fresh habit that might be easy for you to give up.
Dig into WHY you want to do something. And not just the surface level why, but really why.
Need help doing this? Check out the journaling prompts in the Resource Library to help get you started.
Once you find your why put it somewhere you can refer to often. Keep it top of mind, put it on your bathroom mirror, use it as your phone background. Let it constantly motivate and push you to hit your goal. Be obsessed with your why.
And once you hit your goal, refer back to the steps above. Let your success push you to the next step, adapt your new goals to where you’re at now and keep going.
I LOVE to set goals, both in business and in my personal life. But I’ll tell you I’m not making any goals to start on January 1st. I’m using my checklists, to-do lists, and super old-school calendar to continue working on goals that I set for myself months ago. And I am starting to think about how I can take what I’m working on now and take it to the next level… (key part here): when I’m ready to do so.
New Years Resolutions aren’t my thing, but where do you stand on on them? Love them? Hate them? Use them?
Let me know where you’re at and how I can support you on your goal setting/ being your best self journey.