It’s that time of year again and, if you’re anything like nearly half the US population, you’re probably thinking about your new year goals. Every year, countless individuals use the new year as an opportunity to commit to creating meaningful, lasting change … And yet, less than 30 days later, 80% of new year goals fail.
Why is this? Is it that people aren’t serious about creating change? Are their goals to lofty? Are they just plain lazy? In our experience none of these are usually the reasons why people stray from sticking to any goals they may have set for themselves at the beginning of the year. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at why most new year goals fail, and — more importantly — at the steps you can take to assist you in setting up new year goals that are S.M.A.R.T : Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time Bound.
So, again we ask, why do most new year goals fail? To answer this question, we first need to ask a more basic question: What is a new year goal? At its core, a new year goal is simply a desire to act differently. The key word in that definition is “act.” Without action — or forward momentum — you can’t create change. Common sense, right? And yet most resolutions aren’t actionable; they’re merely inspirational.
Let us give you an example. “This year, I’m going to lose 60 pounds.” That’s great, but … How? “Losing 60 pounds” isn’t an action; it’s a result. It’s something you can aspire to, but not something you can do. You can, on the other hand, choose to exercise three days a week, or remove dairy from your diet — and, in doing so, lose the 60 pounds. Make sense?
Change — meaningful, lasting change — is almost always the result of action, not inspiration. And yet most goals are heavy on inspiration and light on action. Never has Benjamin Franklin’s famous quote been more applicable: “Failing to plan is planning to fail.” So that begs the obvious question, “Now what?” What do you have to change to make your new year goals more actionable this year?
The secrets to new year goals that have a chance of being carried through are:
Beginning with an understanding that most goals are ultimately off-the-cuff wishful thinking. You need to create a more pragmatic approach with the following unique angles: Setting action-oriented goals, instilling action-driving habits, and establishing long-term action-inspiring motivation.
We’ll touch on each of the three elements briefly and, if you want to learn more, you can register for a free Welltrack Boost account through your NMConnect app to practice these activities.
Secret #1: Setting Goals that Actually Get Done
We know we are not the first person to tell you that goals are important, and we probably won’t be the last. But as eager as everyone is to spout the importance of goals, few seem to have a truly actionable approach to setting goals that inspire action or create lasting change.
We’ve already discussed why goals fail: Because most goals are results-focused rather than action-focused. You need to create a results-focused goal that offers you pragmatic daily actions. In the interest of giving you something immediately actionable, here’s one of the key takeaways: Write your goals as clear, actionable “yes” or “no” statements. For example: “This week, I spent at least 4 hours in Welltrack Boost Activity Scheduler focused on the proactive tasks that will assist me in moving the needle forward for myself.”
- The WellTrack Boost Activity Scheduler allows you to intentionally schedule pleasurable, social and achievement activities to help keep you accountable for change.
The great thing about goals written in a yes-or-no format is it removes all ambiguity. At a glance, you immediately know three things: Exactly what you need to do, how long you need to do it, and whether or not you’re on-track.
Secret #2: Defining Habits that Direct Your Success
If there’s one thing that sets successful people apart from the rest, it’s their daily habits. We all share the same 24-hour days; what differentiates us is how we use the time we’re given.
Habits drive action, action drives change, and change drives results. Make sense? So if you want to be more successful or productive, you need more successful, productive habits. Take time to define the specific habits and integrate them into frameworks that’ll keep you moving forward and making progress day-in and day-out. One thing that can assist with this is aligning your tasks with action triggers.
Put simply, an action trigger shortcuts the habit-development process by “piggybacking” a new habit onto an existing habit. For example, let’s say you wanted to develop the opportunity-generating habit of sending one email a day to someone you wouldn’t otherwise have contacted, and you already had a daily habit of grabbing a cup of coffee before you start your day.
You could create an action trigger by stating, “When I grab my morning cup of coffee, then I’m going to send an email to someone I wouldn’t otherwise have contacted.” This might seem like a subtle difference, but it works because all you’re doing is adding an extra step onto a pre-existing habit, which is much easier to adopt and integrate into your life than an altogether new behavior.
You can also set yourself reminders in the Welltrack Boost calendar that reflect your scheduled wellness activities to support you in planning and being accountable to these action triggers.
Secret #3: Instilling Motivation that Lasts Through the Year
Pursuing goals and establishing habits is almost always easy in the beginning. But what happens in February, March, or April when “shiny object syndrome” begins to wear off and your New Year goal is no longer “new?”
If you’re like most people, you simply stop pursuing change. That’s why it’s important to place motivational “safeguards” in place early in the goal-setting process, to ensure you’re mentally equipped to continue taking action long after “natural” motivation fades.
One of the simplest ways to accomplish this is revamping the way you communicate to yourself about specific tasks or habits. Why? Because how you communicate with yourself about a task directly influences your motivation to complete that task.
- For example: If your goal was to develop thought leadership by writing two blog posts a month but all you can think is, “I’m a terrible writer, this is going to take forever, it’s going to turn out horribly” is it any wonder you never “find” the motivation to take action?
Instead, identify the negative thoughts surrounding your goals and restructure them based on the positive results those actions will create. This is one of the rare instances where focusing on the result rather than the action is often the key to success.
- For example: “I’m so excited for the opportunity to improve my audience’s life with this content,” or “I’m so excited for the increased revenue this phone call will generate.”
Make it a point to track these thoughts and feelings in your Welltrack Boost Thought Diary to allow yourself to look back and see how things have evolved over time. And, watch the Welltrack Boost course videos to assist yourself in changing your mindset about how you think about these things.
Now that we have given you a baseline on where to get started, we hope you will consider making 2024 the year your new year goals become a reality!
Remember that at the end of the day, meaningful change — and remember, that’s all a goal truly is — really is as simple as finding ways to incorporate it into your everyday life habits. You can master your ability to set action-oriented S.M.A.R.T. goals that support your everyday pragmatic habits by supplementing your progress with inexhaustible motivation. The results you’re looking for won’t be an “if.” They’ll be a “when.”
So, we do not often challenge you all. But if you are interested in creating change to support your path to wellness, then our challenge to you is this: Make that “when” this year.
We hope the quick tips we shared in this article help make 2024 the year you reach your fullest potential. And if you want more, don’t forget this topic is bigger than what we discussed in this article. If you’re interested in really getting the most out of your new year goals, we invite you to create your free Welltrack Boost account through your NMConnect app to continue on your pathway to wellness.
Whatever you decide and whatever your goals, we wish you nothing but the best for this new year.
From all of us here at the New Mexico 988 Crisis and Access Line AND Peer to Peer Warmline, Happy New Year!
