Around the New Year, people jump on the resolution bandwagon toward self-improvement. But consider resolutions the less-ambitious, rarely successful younger cousin to goals, so why not make those instead?
New Year’s Resolutions have never been a focus for our family. Not that we discouraged them, but who wants to tarnish the celebratory Christmas break vibe by discussing vows for self-improvement? Gross.
But this year, I’m giving them more consideration than usual. Last May, after reading Michael Hyatt’s Your Best Year Ever, I created a list of goals for the year and broke those into quarters. My third quarter began December 1st, and I’ve had great success with Hyatt’s method, especially with my goals for writing.
Since June 1st, I’ve…
- Edited, revised, and completed two manuscripts.
- Submitted One Thing Better to 75 agents.
- Published nearly 30 blogs.
- Read 15 books.
- Created an editing plan for another manuscript.
- Outlined a new novel.
- And organized my work for the entire year and established joint goals with Joe.
It’s been a busy but delightfully productive half-year, showing no signs of slowing. The fifth and final Delilah Duffy Mystery, Odd-a-Sea, comes out in February, ya’ll!
So, my goal-setting doesn’t need a New Year’s Resolution bump.
Still, a mental after-action review of the year gone and dreaming about what’s ahead is standard, New Year’s 101. Who can help it? And it gets me thinking… to resolve or not to resolve?
How many people make resolutions?
In 2022, according to insideoutmastery.com, resolution-makers were in the minority, barely. 39% of American adults made them. At 59%, young adults (18-34) made them the most—sweet, optimistic babies.
In high school, my friend Rachel was one of those sweet, optimistic babies. She made yearly resolutions, usually eliminating things like chocolate or soda from her diet. It was an excellent way to build her self-discipline, and she succeeded.
What are the most popular resolutions?
They’re not outlawing chocolate or soda, geez. Eating healthier, losing weight, and exercising more compose the majority of resolutions. No surprise there, especially after a long winter of gorging on delicious holiday meals and peppermint martinis. Achieving good health is on everyone’s must-do list.
How many resolutions do people make?
The same article reports that nearly 53% of people stick to one main goal while the rest have a self-improvement bonanza making multiple resolutions.
And now the big question… How many resolutions are kept?
9%. For the rest, the quitting timeframe varies. Most give up by February.
So, if you make New Year’s resolutions, how do you become one of the 9% who keep them?
New Year’s Resolutions are special in name only. Otherwise, they’re like any other goal set on a regular Tuesday. And dropping the ball the first week of January sets a negative tone for the new year (ha, New Year’s pun). It’s a lot of pressure.
So, if you deduct New Year’s from the equation, your hopes become goals rather than resolutions, and that’s much better.
What’s the difference between resolutions and goals?
Everyone’s a successful planner or goal-setter to some extent already—we can keep plans. We just spent a season attending family dinners, buying gifts, and hitting up holiday events, for goodness’ sake. But life-altering promises prove way more complicated for most people.
Goals are workable, flexible, and fluid. They shift with you and set you up for success. Setbacks will happen, but so does progress.
Resolutions are concrete, rigid. They are promises that once broken or even bent, heap guilt and disappointment on our shoulders. Resolutions end with a single failure.
Goals roll with bad days while resolutions end on them.
It’s like in detective shows when a newbie cop promises the victim’s family, “We will find who did this.” The next scene is always the veteran detective scolding him for promising what he can’t guarantee will happen.
Never make promises. Make plans.
Three things have kept me on track for six months with my goals—clarity, focus, and flexibility.
Clarity came with knowing exactly what I wanted to get done, writing it down, and setting reasonable timelines.
Focus enabled me to prioritize my goals and bypass distractions.
With flexibility, my plans weren’t ruined over life getting in the way. If the task didn’t happen on a bad day, it happened the next. And I didn’t beat myself up over it.
I won’t make any New Year’s Resolutions. I’ll stick to my plans–the goals I’ve set and the tasks I need to do to complete them.
But in the spirit of entering a new year, it’s helpful to ask: What would I like to be celebrating at this time next year?
Hmm, that’s a much more fun question. Thanks to goal-setting, I already know. Two more published books with two more manuscripts in the queue. A finished Delilah Duffy series. A robust blog with growing traffic. And, let’s hope, a few bonuses I can’t predict, like a bestseller, blog profits, and a fanbase. Fingers crossed.
Whatever your answer, create a list of ways that goal will happen and reasonable timelines for each milestone. Then, you have a manageable, workable plan.
Tell me… what are your thoughts on New Year’s Resolutions? Have any? Really commit by sharing your resolutions below. I’ll also accept goal advice and dad jokes.
For more writing motivation, check out my blog.
