Many people create New Year’s resolutions to set their goals for the future. People promise themselves they will quit smoking, lose weight, or save more money. They think optimistically about the future, hoping that this is their year; however, New Year’s resolutions are notoriously fallible – an estimated 80 percent failure rate! Even a gambler would tell you that those are not great odds.

There are various reasons why most resolutions fall flat by the end of February. Often, the goals we set are too vague, aren’t strategic, or are just plain unattainable. Not achieving those goals can leave people feeling more discouraged than ever.

How can you set successful goals?

Set Meaningful Goals

The first component of successful goal setting is to make the goal meaningful. Sure, you may want to get fitter, save money, or learn to play the violin; the question is, why?

When you think about what you want to achieve, ask yourself these questions:

How does my goal inspire me?
Do I believe that I can achieve my goal?
How can I act now, and in the future, to achieve my goal?
What is it about my imagined future state that is so appealing?

Everything we achieve in life, every milestone we reach, reflects who we are and what we have overcome. Think about how your goal fits into the story of your life, and, if it doesn’t, ask yourself why you want something that doesn’t match your values or mission in life.

Feel the Achievement

When setting goals, it can help to think about how success will feel. Diving deep into how you will feel when you achieve your goal will help you assess whether it’s the right goal for you or if now is the right time. To assess your feelings around a goal, put your current self into the shoes of your ideal future self. To do this, try journaling, meditating, or listening to music that reflects how you think you’ll feel when you’ve met your goal. Visualize what your world will look like, how you will feel about yourself, how you will look, how your friends or family will congratulate you, and anything else that comes up when you think of achieving your goal.

Savor these feelings.

If you do this and it doesn’t feel right, perhaps now is not the right time for you to work toward this goal. Try something else on for size until you find an aspiration that makes you feel passionate and fired up to get started.

The Best Time to Set Goals

Setting New Year’s resolutions at the start of the year is typical. After the (over)indulgence of the holidays, people are often feeling ready for a change.

Using the first day of the year to start new habits is based on the psychological impression of a new beginning. This phenomenon is referred to as “the fresh-start effect”. According to this principle, people are more likely to act on a goal on or after landmarks dates or situations that represent new beginnings. So, if you missed the boat to set your resolutions, there are other good times to set goals based on the fresh-start principle.

You could use the fresh-start effect to set goals on the first day of the month or on Mondays, which signal the beginning of a new week. Any date or time that feels like a new beginning to you is just as good as New Year’s Eve or Day. Here are some steps that will help you attain your goal:

Make It Actionable

A common obstacle to achieving a goal is not accurately measuring whether the goal is attainable. Biting off more than you can chew and not reaching your dreams can be discouraging and can minimize the improvements that have been made.

Optimism goes a long way, of course; what really makes a goal achievable are clear, defined steps to accomplish it.

Be sure your goal is S.M.A.R.T., which means that it’s:

Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Time-sensitive

Consider these things when planning the steps towards reaching your goal:

Is It Specific?

Be specific about what you are trying to achieve. What do you want? How much money do you want to save? How much weight do you want to lose? If your aspiration is vague, you won’t know whether you’ve succeeded or not.

Is It Measurable?

How will you know that you’ve met your goal? Do you fit into your favorite jeans? Is there a specific dollar amount in your bank account? By making your goal measurable, you can see your progress. Think about the kinds of progress that will keep you motivated to reach your goal and how you can measure your success along the way.

Is It Attainable?

When you’re honest with yourself about your goal, is it attainable? No one becomes a millionaire overnight, not even Jeff Bezos or Oprah Winfrey. You can, however, probably save $500 in a year. Or read 12 books. Or eat vegetarian meals one day each week. Remember the wise advice from the 1991 movie What About Bob – it's all about baby steps.

Is It Realistic?

Consider your goal, break it down into bite-sized pieces, and make it practical. For example, to save $500 in a year, you need to put $1.37 in your savings account each day. That’s less than $10 each week. Is that possible for you? If it is, great! If not, reset your goal to reflect your reality.

Make Sure It’s Time-Sensitive

Set a timeline for yourself. Most doctors consider losing one to two pounds weekly a safe and healthy rate. To lose 10 pounds, allow yourself two to three months. If your goal is to earn a college degree, it might take you four years or more. As impatient humans, we want immediate results. When results aren’t immediate, we can become discouraged and might give up. Set a timeframe for your goal that is reasonable and set goalposts along the way to track your progress.

Plan to Deal with Discouragement

Another thing that often derails our New Year’s resolutions is not having a plan for when things aren’t going as well as we thought they would. Life happens and being able to adjust expectations (for us and everyone else) is part of being an adult.

As you’re thinking about your goals and creating a plan to achieve them, brainstorm some things that might go wrong:

If you plan to save money, what happens if you lose your job?
If you have fitness plans, what happens if you sprain your ankle?
Or, maybe things just aren’t happening as fast as you want. How do you stay motivated?

In any of these circumstances, rather than throwing in the towel, how will you reset?

Measure your progress and adjust your timeline or reset your goal to something more realistic according to the new situation. The money you’ve saved so far will come in handy if you are out of work and setting a goal to find new ways of moving while your ankle heals will keep you from feeling like you’re going backward.

If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s how to be flexible when facing adversity. Use your ability to adapt to change to keep moving toward your goal.

Build in Accountability

Having a support network can be very helpful, and it can be beneficial to tell someone what you’re striving toward. When you stretch to achieve something special, having support might mean the difference between success and failure.

Science tells us that sharing a goal with someone you respect can make you more likely to meet your goal. Part of this comes from the desire not to disappoint them. So, if you want to keep yourself motivated, tell a mentor or other respected person in your life about your goal.

You can choose an “accountability buddy” or someone you can call when the going gets tough. They could be your best friend, partner, or parent. Ideally, this person cares about you, supports you, and will hold you accountable if you want to quit.

Remember to Celebrate!

We’ve outlined the importance of being able to track your progress and measure success. You can’t celebrate your wins without keeping track and knowing when you’ve reached a milestone or completed a goal.

Celebrating your progress and successes along the way to achieving your goals will remind you to give yourself credit for all your hard work. This is a loving kindness action and will help you stay motivated.

Consider finding ways to celebrate that feel special and reinforce the goals you are working toward. For example, rather than going on a spending spree with your hard-earned savings, pick a single splurge item – act responsibly and keep going.

You’ve can do this! And we’re here to support you.

Ashley Vasas, RYT500

Ashley is passionate about sharing the power of yoga, movement, and philosophy to help her students open themselves up to vibrant health, joy, and connection to self. She was a yoga practitioner for years before being called to share this beautiful practice with others. After discovering the transformation that yoga can offer, Ashley was inspired to help others who feel disconnected from their body and spirit. Today, Ashley helps her students connect with their potential through yoga, meditation, and self-love. Ashley is devoted to deepening her yoga knowledge and earned her RYT-500 advanced training in 2022. She has studied many yoga modalities to serve her students’ unique needs, including Vinyasa, Hatha, Yin, pre-and post-natal, Yoga Nidra, meditation, and Yoga Tune Up®. When she’s not on the mat, Ashley enjoys cooking, gardening, traveling, and spending time with her husband and cats.