Why Having a Goal Setting Template is better than a New Year’s Resolution

The key to achieving success in life is to have a goal setting template that you stick to methodically. It sounds easy to stick to right? Well, what’s easy to do is sometimes easy not to do. It’s only early days in 2013 and a new year is ahead of us all. It’s a time where a lot of people begin to focus on what they want and how to go about living their daily lives to bring that into reality. Yet, a couple of months down the track, this focus fizzle’s out. This article will explain why this happens year after year.

“88% of people who set New Year’s resolutions fail at their attempt” ~ Tony Robbins (World’s #1 Motivation Coach)

Why do 88% of people who set New Year’s resolutions fail at their attempt? The reason why they fail is because they don’t have a goal. Let me explain why having a goal over a resolution is vital to our success.

Rule 101 of goal setting is to define our success. Since I play by the rules, I figured it might make sense to define a goal and then define what a resolution is. Here are my definitions for both:

1)Resolution - A formal expression of opinion or intention

The problem I have with a resolution is that it has the word intention. This is a belief about something. Sure we might start off the year with the best of intentions but if our beliefs do not match our behavior, then we are doomed for failure. I am sorry to be so blunt but that’s the reality. I can quite easily make an intention in my mind to get up and go for a run in the morning, but if I don’t go ahead and take action to actually go for a run, my behavior hasn't matched my belief or intention.

Think about it, how many times have people intended to lose weight, run a race or learn how to dance in the year only to fall through on it? They may well do it for a few days, even a few weeks but then it stops. Why? The reason why this happens is because life kicks in. They get stressed in work; complain about their day etc... They find an excuse because at the end of the day it was only an intention, nothing more.

2)Goal - An observable and measurable end result having one or more objectives to be achieved within a more or less fixed time frame.

Goal setting is when we are crystal clear about what we really want in life and then create a bulletproof plan for achieving it. Our goals have to be measurable and determinable. The fact that time is included in the definition above means that there is a definite end result. Goals are written down which make them a reality. By writing down our goals, we become account table to them.

In this definition, there is no mention of “intention” or “opinion”, it is very matter of fact isn't it? There are no hiding places with our goals, unlike New Year’s resolutions. If 88% of people fail with their resolutions, then the individuals that do fail won’t feel as bad. With our goals, it’s something that we really want to achieve and not something that we say for the sake of it.

Now you might be thinking – sure I agree that goals are better to set than New Year’s resolutions, but how come I never achieve my goals? I’ll refer back to Tony Robbins again here as he says that “only 10% of the population has specific, well-defined goals”

How do we get specific, well-defined goals? Simply go back to the very definition of a goal. Remember a goal has “an observable and measurable end result having one or more objectives to be achieved within a more or less fixed time frame.” Our goal (or success statement as I sometimes call it) should contain all these elements so we can be successful with our desires.