A Guide To New Year's Resolution Planning

Improve the way you tackle goal-setting

Given that it’s January 10th today, I might be a little late to the party on resolution planning. I took a break from writing over the holidays to give myself some much needed rest.

But of course, talking to folks about their resolutions and thinking about mine have wrestled some ideas within me that I feel inclined to share. So here we are, just a tad fashionably late.

My hope for today’s newsletter is to provide a framework for goal setting that will nurture consistency. How many of us have started the new year bubbling enthusiastically with new ambitious goals, only to lose steam weeks later? I’ve certainly fallen into this trap, and it doesn’t feel great when we fail to follow through on our resolutions.

Setting goals in a constructive way can help us to avoid this scenario and stay consistent. Well-written, achievable goals provide clarity and guidance when it’s time to act.

Prioritization

Before we set our goals, it’s critical that we identify what our priorities are. Most of us can easily list dozens of things we’d like to change about our lives. But when we try to tackle everything at once, we set ourselves up to fail. Change is notoriously difficult, and implementing lasting change requires focus.

Instead of trying to do it all, we can identify what matters most to us and create actionable, realistic goals around one or two priorities. When we do this, we’re less likely to lose steam by spreading ourselves too thin.

Small, consistent steps build momentum, and as we accomplish our initial resolutions and form new habits, we gain confidence to tackle others. When we make resolutions in January, we aren’t locked into them for the rest of the year. They can evolve and grow with us as our priorities change.

The Two Types of Accomplishable Goals

Metric-Driven

We are more likely to follow through on our goals when we have clear measurable outcomes that we can work against. Big picture ideas are awesome for envisioning how we want our lives to change, but when it comes to execution, we need to define clear and measurable actions.

Let’s say my resolution for this year is to get in better shape and feel healthier. Since this type of goal is met by small consistent actions that accumulate progress overtime, my goal structure should mimic that.

Poorly Written Goal

I will exercise more this year.

This is not a well-written goal, because “exercising more” is a vague milestone that I can’t easily measure against.

Well-Written Goal

I will go to the gym three times per week this year.

This goal is much better. Even though both statements are about increasing the amount of time I exercise, “three times per week” is more clearly defined. I know exactly what actions to take in order to meet this goal.

This is important because I won’t always feel motivated to exercise, especially when forming a new habit. In the middle of the week, when I’m tired and debating whether or not to go to the gym, I’ll know whether I’ve been one or two or three times that week. Since my goal was written with the clear metric of three times per week, it’s much easier to measure my progress and push myself to go when I don’t necessarily want to.

On the flip side, if my goal is just to “exercise more,” it’s a lot easier for me to excuse the need to go. There’s no defined metric I’m measuring against, which reduces my accountability.

Focus Statements

There is a second type of resolution that, instead of being a metric-driven goal, acts as a guiding principle for the year. Focus Statements are especially helpful for shifting mindsets, reframing paradigms, or adjusting emotional responses.

With this type of resolution, we craft a statement to live by—a grounding phrase that serves as a touchstone throughout the year, much like a mantra anchors us during meditation.

Last year, inspired by the book Untamed by Glennon Doyle, I decided to make my New Year’s resolution for 2024 a guiding statement: Shorten the distance between understanding and doing.

My goal was to improve my ability to listen to and act on my intuition, something that’s difficult to measure with metrics.

To keep this intention top of mind, I wrote the phrase on my whiteboard and read it almost daily. This simple practice made it easier to hear my intuition when situations arose, because I had consistently reinforced that mindset within myself.

Throughout the past few years, I have used and loved both metric-driven and focus statement resolutions. I hope that today’s newsletter has been helpful, and good luck in your goal setting!

Happy New Year,
Ari