As the year comes to a close and the new one is fast approaching, we find ourselves at a crossroads of self reflection and optimism for self improvement. New Year’s resolutions are a timeless tradition dating back to ancient times that has stuck around to present day, and often serves as motivation for people seeking a fresh-start to improve an aspect of their lifestyle.
History Of The New Year Resolution
The tradition of a New Year celebration and resolutions was first recorded by ancient Babylonians 4,000 years ago. Babylonian society followed a calendar system in which the New Year began in spring, roughly around mid-March of our Gregorian calendar. As an agricultural society they held a 12 day religious celebration named Akitu which began around the time their crops were planted. As part of this celebration, they would make promises to the gods to repay any debts and return any borrowed items. By following through with their word they would be rewarded by the gods the following year, but if they failed to do so they would be disfavored.1
Ancient Rome also celebrated the new year while making promises to a divine being. When Julius Caesar introduced the Julian calendar system in 46 B.C. he dedicated the first month of the year to the Roman god Janus. Janus was a deity with two faces who represented new beginnings and was celebrated by ancient Romans for his ability to simultaneously look back on the previous year while looking forward into the new one. In his honor, ancient Romans would make sacrifices and promise good behavior in the new year.1
New Year, New You
In modern times, the New Year remains a symbol for self-improvement. Recent polls in the United States have found that at least 44% of people are likely to establish a resolution for themselves in the New Year. While it’s easy to be optimistic and set goals, it can be quite challenging to stick through with it over the course of a year. In a study by Norcross and Vangarelli that followed 200 individuals in their New Year’s goals, 77% kept their promise in the first week. After one month, 55% stayed true, and about 40% after six months following a downward trend.2
A recent study with a larger pool of participants (1,066) found that approach-oriented goals were much more successful than avoidance-oriented goals, which tend to have a negative connotation and psychologically affect our approach towards the goal. So stating “I will be more efficient at work” would be more beneficial than stating “I want to stop procrastinating at work”. The study also found that having a friend, family member, or loved one involved and supporting the individual’s journey in reaching a goal increased the likelihood of success.2
Goals and Objectives
One reason why people tend to give up on their goals is because their goals are too broad which may appear daunting if you don’t have a plan of action. We all know that the most popular goal for the new year is losing weight but how much weight? And when? How do you plan to achieve this? These are questions many people don’t think about or if they do, they don’t take the time to write it out and hold themselves accountable to their words. This is why its important to distinguish between goals and objectives.
Goals can be seen as general wishes and beliefs: “I will earn more money in 2024.” Meanwhile, objectives are quantitative steps towards said goal: “I will earn 10% more in earnings in 2024 by showcasing my leadership skills in X project and using it to leverage a promotion and pay raise with my employer.”
The S.M.A.R.T. Method
Using the S.M.A.R.T.3 method, proposed by George T. Doran, has been proven to be an incredibly effective way to implement objectives to reach your goals!
- Specific: Clearly state your goal. Try to limit broad terminology, put emotion behind what the goal is, why the goal is important and the necessity of completing such goal
- Measurable: Have a quantifiable goal in mind. Again, be specific in all elements of your goal as being too broad leaves room for procrastination and confusion on whether your actions are truly meeting your goal
- Attainable: Is your goal realistically attainable especially when addressing measurement and time. Can this even be achieved with all the variables at play?
- Relevant: Is this a goal that is relevant to your life and will make a marked difference?
- Time: Is the time frame chosen to meet this goal realistic? If too far it can give room to procrastination, if too short you can be setting yourself up for failure. Research the estimated amount of time it may take to complete your goal beforehand. It also doesn’t hurt to commit fully to your goal and later decide if your time frame is realistic or not and adjust accordingly.
*in a business setting, the “A” can also stand for assignable. Meaning who will be delegated certain roles to achieve the goal. If you already know the goal will be completed by you then use “A” to stand for attainable* 4
A S.M.A.R.T. Outline Example
If your goal is to lose weight, the following S.M.A.R.T. outline lays out potential objectives as an example.
SPECIFIC: I will lose 25 pounds in 6 months
MEASURABLE: I will reduce my caloric intake everyday from 2400 calories to 1800 calories. I will also workout 5 days out of the week and aim for a loss of 500 calories per workout session. I will walk an average of ½ a mile a day through my normal walking activities including walking the dog.
ATTAINABLE: With these numbers I would lose about 1.57 pounds per week and if I’m strict with maintaining these numbers every week, I can technically achieve the objective in 4 months. It will be a learning curve to implement the caloric deficit and the increase in exercise so an extra 2 months is given to account for days where perfection isn’t met. Metabolism also comes to play when losing weight and must be accounted for.
RELEVANT: I want to be my healthiest self and go back to my weight that made me feel confident and healthy. I had more stamina and felt my best at this weight. It’s also a weight I feel comfortable sustaining.
TIME-BOUND: 6 months gives a reasonable amount of time to achieve this goal. Short enough that I will dedicate myself to this goal and eagerly await the results and far away enough that I have reasonable time to achieve this goal.
Conclusion
The New Year does give reason to reflect on our past and make promises for our future but we shouldn’t feel compelled to make hefty goals only at the start of the year. Our brains are malleable, and research shows habits can form and stick with us after 10 weeks.5 This leaves plenty of time within the year to pick up new goals or habits and take the necessary steps to achieve them. When it comes to goals, it’s very important to be realistic about what you can do as trying to balance too many goals can cause numerous failures which can lead to letting yourself down. When this happens, you may lose trust in yourself. So my advice this year would be to choose your goals wisely, be realistic and have a plan mapped out on how each of these goals can be achieved and by when. In doing this, you are setting yourself up for success and providing the tools to succeed over and over again.
Happy New Year!!!!
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