Why can’t we stick to our resolutions?

Making new year’s resolutions every year is about as common as breaking new year’s resolutions. Most of us just can’t seem to stick to them, no matter how hard we try.

In fact, a study of would-be resolvers found a steep decrease in the amount of time people are able to stick to their resolutions. Researchers at the University of Scranton in the US found 77% of the resolvers studied made it through a full week. Just 55 percent of those stuck with their goals until February. Are you one of those?

Just 40% of those who had made resolutions were still sticking with the goal after six months. Says professor of psychology at the University of Scranton John Norcross: “Many people confuse fantasy with reality. Resolutions are supposed to be specific and realistic and measurable. In the book, we talk about the acronym SMART, which comes from business. It stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-sensitive.” Keeping this in mind, here are some tips to help you get through to June.

Are your goals specific?
Goals like “get fit” or “earn more money” often don’t work because they aren’t specific. You need to be clear on how the outcome will be measured. To be successful in your goals, you need to set ones which are tangible. Rather, tell yourself that you want to run a half-marathon by the end of the year or secure a 20% salary increase.

Can you measure your goals?
If you aren’t sure how to measure your goals, they probably won’t work. Savvy goal setters don’t say they want to “be more responsible in 2016”. Instead, you should tell yourself that you want to “organise car, household and legal insurance by the end of February”.

Is your goal attainable?
A big goal – like exercising daily or quitting drinking – might seem exciting but it likely isn’t attainable. Researchers have found it is the more manageable goals which people are actually likely to succeed at. Instead of saying you want to lose 50kg, why not strive to exercise four times each week?

Are your goals realistic?
Some goals just aren’t possible to achieve. And you don’t want to set yourself up for failure. Make sure your goals are realistic when considered with your lifestyle and previous commitments. If you know you work late in the evenings, there’s no point planning to exercise at night.

Is your goal time-sensitive?
Your goals should have an end date. You should know when you set your goal what you want to achieve and when you want to achieve that by.

And then once you’ve asked yourself these questions, you need to write down your new, SMART goals. A study on Harvard MBA graduates asked students whether they had set clear, written goals for their future and made plans to accomplish them. Of the group, just 3% had written them down, 13% set some goals, but hadn’t written them down, and 84% had set no goals. These students were studied a decade later and it was found that those who set goals, but didn’t write them down were earning double than the 84% who had set no goals. Most impressive is that the 3% who wrote down their goals were earning incomes on average more than 10 times that of the other 97%. If that’s not enough of a reason to write down your SMART goals, nothing will convince you.