As the new year rolls through, many readers of The Collegian may consider setting New Year’s resolutions. However, planning appropriately may be the key to actually hitting those goals this year. According to the article “19 Mind-Blowing New Year’s Resolution Statistics,” 38.5% of adults in the U.S. set New Year’s resolutions every year. Nevertheless, only 9% out of those adults successfully keep their New Year’s resolutions. [1] As the numbers indicate, setting and following goals can be challenging. Some of the reasons why people give up are lack of motivation, time constraints, procrastination, or even fear of failure. Fortunately, there are different strategies that can help in staying consistent and achieving New Year’s goals.
One of the strategies that can help in following New Year’s resolutions is setting SMART goals. The word SMART stands for specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-based goals. If you have never heard about SMART goals, then reading the article “A Closer look at SMART Goals Heading into the New Year” by The Collegian writer Kudzai Mhondiwa can provide more information on how this strategy can help in 2023. [2] Studies show that people who plan their goals carefully are 42% more likely to achieve them.
A common pitfall to avoid is setting an unrealistic goal or trying to change too many things at once. Consider setting a very small but realistic goal instead of trying to alter a lot of things at once and failing. The scale of the goal should not matter if you can provide a reasonable probability of achievement of the goal. And if reasonable probability by your own definition means setting a small yet achievable resolution, it is certainly better than choosing a big goal and failing. Small goals can get you a really long way, micro habits and incremental changes are some things to consider in the year 2023.
According to a poll by The Collegian, 19% of respondents who made resolutions for the year 2022 were able to successfully keep to their resolution. This is twice as much as the average for adults in the U.S. Aiming low and achieving something is better than aiming high and achieving nothing. For 2023, 38% of respondents made New Year’s resolutions. Let’s be SMART about our resolutions and make this year the one in which we achieve our goals and make meaningful progress towards the things that matter to us. [3]
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