Write Goals, Not Resolutions

We are going to go against the grain here and say that you should write goals rather than resolutions. Despite resolutions being prominent this time of year, it’s important to understand that goals and resolutions are not the same thing. 

Resolutions tend to be larger shifts, such as, “Saving money,” whereas goals will focus on a specific measurement and may look more like, “Utilizing a system that will allow me to save $500 in the next 6 months through tracking current spending and putting budgets into place.” 

What are the benefits of developing goals rather than resolutions? 

Goals are specific. Laying out a goal means that you have taken the time to include details about what success will look like. Your goal will include areas such as time allotment, checkpoints, and next steps. 

Goals include the steps you need to take. Rather than focusing on the generality of resolutions, goals offer you the opportunity to break things down into smaller steps. Each goal has multiple steps that you’ll need to accomplish in order to find success. Developing those steps gives you a structured roadmap to follow, which leads to great success rates. 

Goals center around a growth mindset. Yes, resolutions are about change, just like goals, but by breaking down your goals into smaller steps, you are seeing small incremental progress. This means that there are more opportunities for celebration and growth, which will ultimately lead to an improved growth mindset as you will encounter multiple points of progress. 

Goals include a reflective element. As you create a goal, you will be taking multiple steps along the way. With each step comes an opportunity to reflect. Reflection grants you the time to make adjustments as needed and further finetune your approach. 

We encourage you to utilize your resolution as a catalyst toward creating an action-oriented goal.