It’s about that time again: The time where gyms get new memberships, self-help book sales spike, and anything claiming to give you a better life gets purchased. It’s the time for New Year resolutions.

 

Failure

Maybe you are one of the many people who make New Year’s resolutions or maybe you are one of the many people who have given up. Here’s the truth about New Year’s resolutions: they don’t work. Every year there are roughly 156 million failed resolutions. Anyone who has ever given them a whirl knows this to be true. So what can you do instead? I believe there is something.

Success

Instead of making some verbal declaration (New Year’s resolution), set goals. But set goals the right way. You may have heard of the SMART method for goal setting. 

• Specific – Make your goal specific, not general. Identify what meeting the goal looks like.
• Measurable – You want to lose weight? Well, how much? You want to read the Bible more? Well, how much more?
• Attainable – Your goals should get you a little uneasy, but they should be attainable. Maybe running a marathon next week is out of the question if you haven’t been training until today. But running a marathon this time next year is attainable or maybe even 6 months from now.
• Relevant – Goals should take you to the place you want to be in the future. They should be relevant to where and what God is calling you to.
• Time-Bound – Goals need a deadline. When are you going to do this by? 

On top of using the SMART method you need to write your goals down. Write them down positively, i.e. I will read the entire Bible by December 23, 2015. When you write your goals down you can make action steps on how to meet them. 

This podcast episode is a great resource for anyone thinking of setting goals: 10 Biggest Mistakes People Make When Goal Setting (and How to Fix Them) by Michael Hyatt. 

Like Michael, I recommend you make goals in more areas of your life than just work and health. Think about the major aspects of your life and make a goal or two for each of them. If you meet all your goals in the area of your career, but you neglect your family you have failed miserably. Set goals in each of these areas:

• Your relationship with Jesus (serve, give, study, etc.)
• Family (spouse, kids, etc.)
• Health (weight-loss, strength training, healthy eating, etc.)
• Career (training, learning, etc.)
• Personal (learn something new just because, etc.)

Join me in setting goals to make 2015 the best year yet. Write them down and make them SMART.

What goals will you be setting for 2015? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below.