From New Year Resolutions To New Year Goals
A New Year’s resolution is a tradition in which a person resolves to continue good practices, change an undesired trait or behavior, accomplish a personal goal, or otherwise improve their behavior at the beginning of a year. They are personal commitments that people set at the beginning of a new year to improve themselves, their habits, or their lives. These resolutions often focus on areas like health, relationships, career, finances, or personal growth.
At very often times many people at the start of a new year tend to make new year resolutions. Resolutions to stop bad habits, resolutions to form good habits, create and follow better coping mechanisms, resolutions to be better persons, resolutions to deal with anger, resolutions to achieve a stable mental health, resolutions to seek therapy, some even make resolutions to stay close to God and remain steadfast in the faith.
But along the line, some and if not majority find themselves drifting away even before the second phase of January begins.
The idea behind New Year’s resolutions is to start fresh and make positive changes, though many people struggle to stick to them long-term.
Making new year resolutions is a good thing to do but it is better to make new year goals because it is easier to keep goals and set a measure in place in achieving them.
According to a New Years Resolution Statistics- Statistic Brian in a 2014 report, 35% of participants who failed their New Year’s resolutions admitted they had unrealistic goals, 33% of participants did not keep track of their progress, and 23% forgot about them; the remaining respondents claimed they made too many resolutions.
Judging from these statistics it can be established that many people come up with new year resolutions but fail to accomplish them.
This is why it is important to shift our focus from making new year resolutions to making and achieving new year goals.
Goals are specific targets or desired outcomes that a person, group, or organization aims to achieve within a set timeframe. They provide direction, motivation, and a clear focus for personal or professional growth.
It takes discipline to maintain a resolution but it takes more than discipline to create and achieve goals.
The five (5) Differences Between Resolutions and Goals
1. Goals are clear, focused, measurable and actionable while resolutions are just broad and ongoing.
2. Resolutions are often open-ended but goals can be short term, long term, personal or professional with deadlines.
3. Resolutions are backed up with general statements such as; “I plan on losing weight this year” but goals are specific (clearly defined) and achievable such as; “I will exercise for 30minutes, 5times a week”.
4. For resolutions progress are harder to track while goals are measurable hence easier to track and measure progress.
5. Goals are relevant and time bound while resolutions lack deadlines making them less achievable.
Make up Your mind
Today make up your mind to shift your mind set from making new year resolutions to creating achievable goals.
Make up your mind to be goal oriented and not resolution oriented, set specific, smart and achievable goals. Make up your mind to desire, discover, be determined and be disciplined to achieve your new year goals in 2025.
Frederick Abiola-Cudjoe
Frederick Abiola Cudjoe is a blogger, content creator who is in service to Arogi Trauma Care Foundation. He is solution driven and result oriented. He has a strong passion to always make clients have the best customer service experience.
