Navigation Menu+

Why We Are Not Setting New Year’s Resolutions

Our team at 21xdesign would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year!

New Year’s Resolutions are a curious pressure that we put on ourselves especially since the cards are stacked against us!  “This Year, Don’t Set New Year’s Resolutions” is an article I read by Ashira Prossack from Forbes magazine and it has made me think about the possibility of ‘resolving’ my resolutions.

Prossack says less than 25% of people actually stay committed to their resolutions after 30 days, and only 8% even accomplish them. She suggests making your resolutions into ‘goals’ because a goal is measurable and specific, where a resolution is a broad concept with no afterthought into how to achieve success.

Taking Prossack’s article into consideration, we thought of using something many of us were taught in school: the S.M.A.R.T method. It sounds elementary, but it just might help…it can serve as a great tool in turning your broad resolution into an attainable goal.

S’ stands for specific. Instead of making a resolution of “I want to lose weight”, you need to get much more specific. Instead, try setting a goal such as, “I want to lose 10 pounds in 30 days.”

M’ signifies measurable, meaning there is some way you are quantifying your productivity. With weight, this may be as simple as the number of pounds lost, but for other resolutions it may not be as clear. It is up to you to find a way to track your progress through some sort of measurement.

A’ is very simple, yet the step that most people can overlook. Your goal must be ‘attainable’ meaning, your goal has to be within the limits of reality or you are setting yourself up for failure. Setting a goal that you want to become a doctor in a year is simply not plausible.

R’ stands for relevant, which should make you think deeper into the why of your goal setting. Is your goal relevant to where you are currently in life?

T’ for timely, is perhaps the most important criteria. If you do not give yourself enough time you are putting too much pressure on yourself, but too much time can make the goal less motivating. Set a timeline that will move along your goal until you have completed it.

What do you think? Too much work or is it worth a try? We’ll check back in mid-year to let you know if we were “smart’ or not. Best of luck to all of us!

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.