Why you Should Set Goals Instead of Resolutions

FTC disclaimer:  This post may contain affiliate links.

Tis the season to see tons of resolutions floating around the Internet.  Lose weight.  Read More.  Get out of Debt.  Come February, how many who wanted to lose weight will have given up and spend Super Bowl Sunday celebrating the day that ranks second of the year for calorie consumption.

What did you accomplish in 2015?  Did you fulfill your resolutions?  If you are like most people, probably not.

One reason is GOALS ARE DEFINABLE.


Think about it.  "Lose weight".   Does it count if I lose 1/2 a pound in a year?  What if I'm doing all the right things and my body isn't cooperating?  I'm sure you've all seen on reality shows where the contestants are doing everything they should and they just don't lose the weight a certain week.  How about a goal of "Working out twice a week".  The thing with a goal is if you mess up, you can immediately get back on track.  Or "eat a salad for lunch once a week".  This is dependent on your choices only and not on what your body does.

Read more?  How much more?  Why not set a goal?  Last year I had a goal of reading two books a month.  One year I read 100 books in a year, but with renovating a house, planning a wedding, and everything else I do, I thought 26 books seemed reasonable.  I only read 25, but I don't feel like I failed.

ONCE YOU REACH A GOAL, PICK A NEW ONE!

Get out of debt.  That's a huge New Year's Resolution.  I highly recommend the book The Total Money Makeover if this is one of your goals.  With debt management, instead of making a resolution "Get out of debt", I recommend a smaller goal, such as "Pay off the credit card where we owe $300."  Its so encouraging to reach a goal, and you can make a new one.

RESOLUTIONS OFTEN FEEL OVERWHELMING

I sat down last month and decided what my goals were for 2016.  If I looked at the big picture, it would seem impossible.  But what if you break it up?  Instead of using round numbers, I often used a base 12 system because I can divide it into each months.  In my mind, I thought, "I want to have at least $10,000 more listed on eBay in December 2016 than I do now."   It's easier to think of $1,000 a month.  Plus that gives me $2,000 leeway.  Now let's break that down some more.  To list $1,000 in new items a month, that's about $250 a week.  Or about $30 a day.  Can I list $30 of stuff on eBay everyday?  Sure!  And that's so much more realistic in my mind than listing $10,000 of stuff.  But plugging away at goals gets results.

I recently bought my husband this 100 day Goal poster from Zazzle.  I think it's a great tool to begin the journey to fulfilling goals in 2016.  What I love about it is that you can customize it to whatever your goal is.  Repaying debt.  A deep clean of the entire house.  Or taking time to work on a novel each day.

Happy 2016!