Let's talk New Year's resolutions... and why they fail.

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Diet?
Starting on the 1st of January.
The gym?
Starting on the 1st of January.
Becoming more social?
Starting on the 1st of January.
...
...
...

Sounds familiar?

Yep. It's that time of the year again. Time for new year's resolutions. Making plans about what all to change in the coming year, sticking to it for a month, then by February or sometimes March, failing terribly.

Happens every year.

But why do most of these New Year resolutions fail?

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Let's have a look at what exactly new year's resolutions are for a second, shall we?

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Wikipedia

To accomplish a personal goal.

Sounds all fine and right. Now let’s go back to the first few sentences of this post.

Is your goal to go to the gym? Is your goal to diet? To be more social?

Or is your goal to look better? Eat better? Have more friends?

If you nodded yes at the above questions, you’re not in the safe. Here's why:

How do you determine that you look better?

One day you’ll look at yourself in the mirror and think you look downright amazing, but the next day you’ll feel like you look poop.

How do you determine that you eat better?

Does a salad next to a big portion of fries and fried chicken mean a healthier, more balanced meal?

How do you determine being more social… and having more friends?

You might lose a friend, and gain a friend. Is that an improvement in the social department or not?

You see, for your goals to be effective, they need to be measurable. Accountable. Empirical. You need to set them in a structured way that allows you to know exactly how to tackle them. Goals need to be presented in such a way that there are boxes for you to tick.

Examples

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Since we all have the Steemit platform in common, here’s an example of how your goals for Steemit could look like:

This is from an actual goal list of mine. It is for a 3 month period, and (at least) every 3 months I check and update it. Since it is a 3 month period, I wish to complete these goals and check the boxes next to them by 1st of April. I find 3 month periods to work best for me, but you can choose a however long period you like. Do note however, that a yearlong goal is less likely to motivate you as you will always feel like you’ve got a lot of time left; and it will also feel like it’s too big a step to make. I suggest monthly goals or 3 month periods.
Comment on the goals: I registered to the STEEM platform in September and after I had bought some steem using fiat I wanted to hit 1500 SP by 1st of January. Thanks to the SBD value going through the roof, I managed to surpass that number and will most likely reach 1700 SP by the 1st. For followers, I wanted to get 250, and I wanted to have written a total of 25 stories. Seeing as I am now sitting at a little over 300 followers and 31 stories completed (actually more, but 31 numbered) I managed to complete all my goals! So I'm essentially only doubling all the numbers this time.
I know 300 SP might seem “too easy” to reach in 3 months, but keep in mind that’s around 900 USD at this moment. Sure, it is easier with the current value of SBD (roughly 9USD) but imagine it crash down to being worth 1 USD again. Then I really have to make 900 USD with my posts. Not that easy anymore, huh?
IMPORTANT: If I reach any of these goals sooner than on the 1st of April, I will adjust them accordingly.

Notice how I didn't just write down:

• Have more followers
• Post often
• Get more SP
• Participate in contests

If I would've just written down “Have more followers” I would’ve done the same thing as if I had decided I wanted to “look good”. There’s no way to define “more” in “more followers”. A bot could start following me tomorrow, that’d be +1 follower, so that counts as more followers, right? Well, it technically does, but we all know that when we say “more followers” we want more than one.
But how many?

That is why it is important to set goals that can be measured. You know exactly when you reach them, and you know exactly what you’re working for. I want 500 followers and the moment I hit 500, I can tick that box. Same goes for the SP goal, the contests goal, the reputation goal, and so on.

Let’s have a look at another example. I mentioned the gym and dieting earlier. Here’s what your goal list for that could look like.

So by 1st of April I want to weigh 65 kg and be able to do the written lifts.

I’m sure by now you’re cursing me for introducing “check lists” into your life, but let’s look at why exactly they are far more effective than simply saying “I want to look good”.

Why measurable goals and checkboxes?

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• They give you an explicit goal to work toward

“I want to lose weight” and “I want to weigh 65 kg” are two completely different goals. One is measurable and the other is not. One is empirical, and the other purely subjective. One gives you a certain number to work toward, and the other – let’s face it - just gives you anxiety and stress.

• They give you a sense of pride and accomplishment once done (no pun intended toward EA)

When you constantly have a certain goal in your head, namely “I want to have 500 followers”, and when you constantly work toward it, it feels absolutely amazing to be able to cross it off as done. It’s like when you’re working a very demanding and complicating project, sweating like a madman, and then when you’re done you feel like the weight of the world is off your shoulders and you deserve a beer. ^{or two}
It’s exactly that feeling that we’re after, but without explicitly set goals, there is no such feeling to be attained.

• When you set realistic goals, they keep you on track.

It’s also important to set goals that are realistic. Had I set my goal to be 10.000 followers by the 1st of April, I’d be destined to fail. And knowing such a goal is destined to fail demotivates you to even try and reach. You know what is possible and what isn’t.
And while I do wish to have 10000 followers at some point, it is certainly not realistic to believe I can make it happen in three months. Perhaps in a year, or two, or more. But for now, I believe 500 is a good number to work toward.

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Now for the hard part of making your goals come true.

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What I didn’t show you before, is probably even a little bit more important than setting your goals and putting little check boxes next to them.

Let’s go back to our Steemit goals example, only this time I will share it with you in full:

You are well familiar with the first part now, but what about the second part?

The second part is where you should write down what you are prepared to do to reach your goals.
In order to reach my Steemit goals, these are the things I am prepared to do.

Let’s look at the gym example again, this time also in the full version:

Again, I wrote down 3 things that I am prepared to do to achieve my goals.

So why do this?

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When you just say “I want to lose weight” or “I want to have more money” or whatever your goal is, you never defined HOW you are going to make it happen. You just want IT to happen by itself… somehow.

It is very, and I repeat, very important to define what exactly you are prepared to do to reach your goals. If you aren’t prepared to do anything for your goals, they’re just never going to happen. It’s as simple as that.

I suggest you write down 3 things (much like in the example) you are prepared to do for each goal category (I structured mine into Gym, Steemit, school, job and Life (general, social and private)).

Write down less than 3 and you’re less likely to succeed, write down more than 3 and you’re more likely to be overwhelmed.
Keep it simple here, this is the best advice I can give. If you fail one every now and then, it’s no big deal. Just get right back on track first chance you get.

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Final thoughts

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• Write your goals down and make them measurable/accountable.
• Write down what you are prepared to do to reach your goals.
• Repeat every 1 month, 2 months or 3 months based on your own preference.
• Stick to it, and check the boxes next to your goals.
• If you reach your goals sooner; adjust them accordingly.

I suggest you print your list of goals and hang it somewhere where you can see it often. It help keep you on track.

Hope to see you all reach your goals by the 1st of April. ;) ^{or sooner}

*Note: It is important that you have a deadline for your goals. Otherwise you'll never get around to actually working toward them. Want to quit smoking? Quit by April 1st. Not one day after.
Or better yet! Quit today. I believe in you! ;)

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If you want more such articles from me in the future, please let me know in the comments below. Feel free to also choose a topic you wish me to address. ^.^

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Special thanks to @qurator team for all the love and support. You guys are the best! @scrooger for president! _{^{We still need a slogan for you!}}

Special thanks to @braveheart29, @petermarie, @felt.buzz, @simgirl, @paradigmprospect, @mariannewest, @echowhale, @carterx7, my real life friends who are also on Steemit (@hrovat66, @eriesunkite and @michaelmoon) and everyone participating in my Constrained writing contest for keeping me motivated to create and write.

And last but not least, special special special thanks to fellow Qurite @ewkaw for keeping me entertained while I write. ^{You silly cupcake you.}