How to Set Meaningful Goals for the New Year

Although goals can be set at any time of the year, the new year does offer an environmental advantage over other times. Khosrork/Getty Images

New Year’s resolutions don’t have the greatest track record. According to a recent survey by Forbes, more than half of all resolutions are abandoned within the year’s first quarter, and only 6 percent of people report sticking with their resolutions beyond the scope of the year. So should the idea of setting new goals for the new year be abandoned altogether?

Although goals can be set at any time of the year, the new year does offer an environmental advantage over other times. There’s something about the conclusion of festive holidays and the start of a fresh new calendar year, coupled with the social momentum produced by the world conspiring together to make the most of this fresh start, that calls one to reflect, dream, and plan for the future.

Where many people go wrong, however, is their approach to setting goals. If you see your New Year’s resolution as a list of things you probably should think about doing, your goals probably aren’t well defined, and your reasons aren’t compelling enough to drive you through the ups and downs any given year is likely to throw at you. If you’re serious about setting a direction for the new year and some specific and meaningful goals for yourself, here are a few suggestions.

Take the Time

Meaningful goals take time to think through. The new year countdown isn’t the time to start considering what your goals for the new year might be. Allow yourself the time to reflect and think about your life—who you aim to be, what you aim to do, and how you aim to affect others. Pour a cozy beverage, and journal your thoughts and ideas. You may find useful books about goal-setting or habits to inspire your process.

Consider Your Roles

As you think through the coming year, consider the roles you play in life. You may be a mother, father, sister, or brother. You play different roles in your family, through your work or creative endeavors, in your community, and beyond. Think of the responsibilities you shoulder and the effort you extend that benefits others and provides meaning in your life. Don’t forget the role you play in taking care of yourself—a role that’s key to your ability to fulfill all of your other roles.

As you consider all of the roles you play, you may see ways in which you’d like to improve your fulfillment of those roles. Jot down ideas that can improve each aspect of your life and move you toward the ideal vision you have for playing your roles in life.

Get SMART

As you consider your life and your aims, one or two specific goals may stick out as important to focus on in the new year. Use the acronym SMART to guide you to craft a meaningful goal you’ll likely achieve.

SMART stands for specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time frame. If you’re setting out to achieve a goal, you need to define specifically what that is. “Make more money,” for example, is not specific. Someone could give you one dollar, and you’d have achieved that goal. What you mean is clearly something else. Write down your goals in as much detail as possible. What do you want to accomplish? Why do you want to accomplish that? How will you accomplish it?

In order to see whether or not you’re making progress toward the achievement of your goal, you need to be able to measure it. If you want to lose weight, how much and over what period of time? If you want to write a book, how many pages will you write each day, each week, and each month? Decide how best to measure progress toward your goal and track it as you go—celebrating small wins along the way.

Achievable goals are key. It’s good to aim high, but if you aim way too high toward a goal that’s extremely unlikely to ever happen, you’ll likely discourage yourself from continuing on toward the goal. For example, if you weigh 300 pounds and you want to lose 100 of those pounds by next week, that’s not achievable. Instead, aim for a goal weight and then break it down into achievable weekly or monthly steps. This isn’t a race, and recognizing how great it is to simply make progress along the way will keep you going for the long haul.

Realistic goals are those that consider your skill sets and your ability to improve them, along with your current habits. For example, if your goal is to play for the NFL, but you’re 35 years old and have never played football, this goal may not be the most realistic you could come up with. If you have an interest, however, in learning to play football, you can certainly make that happen. You can even get good at playing football and make it a regular part of your life. Set your sights high and push yourself to become ever better, but make sure you’re considering your skills and abilities. A great question to ask yourself is: What are my greatest strengths, and how can I best put those strengths to the greatest possible good in my life?

Finally, as you consider setting goals for the new year, set them within a specific time frame. Define a reasonable date that you’ll accomplish your goal by, and then further break it down into milestones with dates so that you can track your progress. If you fail to meet your deadlines or milestones, you can reassess and adjust, always keeping progress moving forward.

Maintain Your Why

When you set out to achieve a goal, life will surely get in the way from time to time. There will likely be obstacles, unexpected setbacks, challenges, and any manner of difficulty. If it were so easy, you’d have done it already, right?

The key to overcoming all of that is to keep in mind the fundamental reason you’re after this goal in the first place. What will achieving this goal do for you, for your family, for your community, or for the world at large? What are the real reasons you want this to happen? What are you truly aiming for?

Continually review and remind yourself of your why as the year presses on and you inch toward the achievement of your lofty goal.