Setting New Years Resolutions? Learn From My Mistakes

Setting New Year's resolutions is the best way to ensure that you achieve your goals in 2022.

A new decade is right around the corner. If you're like me, you're getting prepared and excited for a New Year.

Unfortunately, I see a lot of people make goal-setting mistakes when they are in the process of setting New Year's resolutions. As a result, they end up sabotaging their success.

I've been setting goals for many years. Ready to learn from my mistakes and set New Years resolutions the right way?

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A New Year is a new chapter in your life.

You always want to make sure that the New Year is better than the year before. If you set that as your standard, it will happen. 2022 is your opportunity to set new goals and commitments that have the power to transform your life for the better.

When I reflect upon what I have been blessed to accomplish in my life, I attribute a lot of my success to my ability to set and achieve goals. When it comes to setting goals, I take a specific direction in each area of my life. Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.

Over the years, I've learned a lot about setting goals. Like a lot of people, I've made mistakes along the way. I want to share what those mistakes are, as well as what has worked for me. In doing so, my hope is that I will better set you up for success in 2020.

Here are 6 goal-setting tips that will help ensure that your New Years resolutions stick.

1. Set S.M.A.R.T. Goals

You want to make your New Years' resolutions are S.M.A.R.T. This is an acronym that stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely. One big mistake that people make is that their goals aren't specific, meaning that they aren't clear about what it is that they want.

For example, if you want to make more money, get clear on how much money you want to make in the New Year. Write down the dollar amount on a piece of paper.

Secondly, you want to make your goals measurable. This is what will allow you to track your progress over a specific period of time.

For example, if you know exactly how much money you want to make in a 12-month period, you can backward engineer and break down how much you will have to make in 3 months and 6 months' time. You want goals that are both result-oriented and process-oriented.

A result is a specific outcome that you are after. For example, I want to make $100,000. The process is the action plan that you will take in order to achieve that result. Process-oriented goals help you measure whether or not you are on track to achieving your result-oriented goal.

Another big mistake that people make is that they set unrealistic goals that are unattainable. For example, some people set the goal that they want to make $1 million dollars in one year. However, they've never even made $60,000 in one year.

Not surprisingly, they get discouraged and lose momentum. Don't get me wrong, you can achieve unrealistic goals over a ten-year period, but in a short period of time, like one year, it's unrealistic. This is why I always set goals that I know I can achieve.

When it comes to your desire and beliefs for the goals that you set, on a scale of 1 to 10, you want to be somewhere between level 7 and 10. You could set a goal that you have a 10 out of 10 desire for. However, if your belief is lower than a 7, you will be less likely to take action to achieve it.

This is a big reason why about 60 percent of people make New Year's resolutions but only about 8 percent of them are successful in achieving them. My sweet spot is setting goals where my desire and belief is at least at a level 7.

Lastly, you want to have a timeline in place for achieving your goals. Without a deadline, it's just a dream. When you schedule something all of a sudden it becomes real.

2. Write Down Your Goals

Thinking about your goals isn't enough. I recommend writing them down and phrasing them in a way that excites and motivates you. By using language like, “I will” presupposes that you will do something, versus saying, “I want to.”

Dr. Gail Matthews, a psychology professor at the Dominican University in California, found that you become 42% more likely to achieve your goals and dreams, simply by writing them down on a regular basis. Writing down my goals allows me to visually see what it is that I want to achieve, versus just thinking about them.

3. Find An Accountability Partner

A lot of people set New Year's resolutions but never achieve them because they don't have an accountability system in place. If you are only accountable to yourself, you are less likely to follow through. There's no consequence in place.

However, when you tell other people about your goals, it's harder to back out. Find an accountability partner, in the form of a close friend, a coach, a mentor, or a Mastermind group. Share your goals with them and ask them to hold you accountable for the achievement of your New Years' resolutions.

4. Check In On Your Goal Progress

I check in on my goal progress on a weekly basis, but you can do this on a monthly or quarterly basis. Checking in on your goals allows you to accurately assess the progress that you're making. It forces you to course adjust so that you can get back on track.

This is why I'm a big believer in the 100 Day Challenge. This is a goal-setting system that helps you achieve your goals faster. As part of the challenge, you are taught how to carry out an after-action review. This involves checking in on your goals on a bi-weekly basis and evaluating your progress or lack thereof. This is such an important part of the process. You need a system of success in place.

5. Be Mindful of The Number of Goals You Set

Be mindful of how many goals you can handle in each area of your life. If you set too many goals without a track record for achieving them, you are setting yourself up for failure.

Find a manageable amount that you know is achievable. You want your goals to stretch you, but you also want to make sure that they are attainable.

6. Be Flexible

When I first started setting New Year's resolutions, I had a hard time following through. I was a dabbler. With experience, I learned how to become very disciplined to ensure that I would never waiver from my goals and commitments. Over the years, I've learned that being flexible is the secret to goal-setting success. If you're too rigid and you don't allow yourself to adapt, you can miss out on a lot of great opportunities.

Are you ready to start setting New Year's resolutions?

Set goals and do the best that you can to achieve them. Yes, you will come up short sometimes, but that's OK. Don't let it hold you back from setting new goals in the future. At the end of the day, the purpose of setting and achieving goals is who you become in the process.

What are your New Years' resolutions? Make 2022 your best year yet.