Every New Year’s Day, millions make resolutions to change their behavior. Almost no one follows through.
The Power of a New Year
New Year’s Day holds an extraordinary power — it’s seen as a time to make a new beginning.
“New Year’s Day has long held a special power over our behavior. We turn the page on the calendar, glimpse all those beautiful empty squares, and open a new account book on our lives.” When, by Daniel H. Pink.
On New Year’s Day, we look back over the past year and look forward to a new self. Reflection and setting goals are always helpful. We need to take advantage of this ready-made opportunity for growth.
Why New Year’s Resolutions Fail
It’s estimated that the failure rate for New Year’s resolutions is more than 80%. Most people have abandoned their resolutions within the first few weeks after making them.
Rook Williams tells ABC News. “The issue is there’s rarely enough thought put into the approach.”
The problem is not that people are insincere or have unachievable goals but that they haven’t thought about the process and habits they need to implement to achieve them.
Change doesn’t happen just by setting a goal. “Here’s the truth: goals don’t make positive changes happen, daily rituals do.” Getting Back to Happy, by Marc Chernoff & Angel Chernoff.
Goals are about the results you want to achieve. Systems are about the processes that lead to those results.
Atomic Habits, James Clear
To achieve our New Year’s goals, we must implement the habits that will reach those goals. In Atomic Habits, James Clear writes, “Success is the product of daily habits—not once-in-a-lifetime transformations.”
If my goal is to get fit, good intentions are not enough. Likewise, it’s not enough to set a general intention to exercise every day. To get fit, I’ll need to start and continue a habit of going to the gym every workday at lunch and exercising for 45 minutes. To reinforce that habit, I’ll need to pack a lunch and bring athletic shoes and clothing to change into. Only by starting these habits will I reach my goal of getting fit.
Instead of New Year’s Resolutions, Try December Reflection and Planning for the New Year
It’s great to set goals for the New Year, but how do we avoid the downside of failing to plan and implement the habits and systems we need to reach those goals? Take a more deliberate approach.
Author David Kadavy writes in Mind Management, Not Time Management, “I used to wait until New Year’s Day to think about what I wanted to accomplish with my New Year. Now, I begin thinking about it weeks in advance.”
Don’t wait until New Year’s Day to think about the past and hastily make resolutions for the New Year. Instead, start reflecting on the past year in December, then set goals for the New Year and the habits and systems you require to reach them.
Reflect Over the Past Year
Start early enough in December to give yourself time to reflect deeply on the past year. You might read over a journal you kept or look over your calendar to get a sense of where your life has been the past year.
Here are some questions you could ask yourself to aid in your reflection:
- What Goals Did You Achieve?
- What Goals Are You Still Working On?
- Who Was Most Important in Your Life this Year?
- How Did Your Priorities Change?
- What Positive Experiences Did You Love Last Year?
- What Would You Change About the Past Year?
- What Were Your Biggest Challenges?
- What Was the Biggest Fear You Faced?
- Is There Anything You Should Leave Behind?
- What Were Your Biggest Surprises This Year?
- What Areas Did You Focus on Most? Will You Change Your Focus in the New Year?
- What Did You Learn This Year?
How’d You Do This Year? 12 Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Ring in the New Year, by Ruth Soukup.
Plan for the New Year
Once you have a good sense of where you’ve been this past year, it’s time to move on to planning for the new year.
While reflecting, you’ve probably already thought about some things you’d like to do in the next year. For instance, if you have uncompleted projects, you might want to plan to complete them in the new year. (Or kill them!)
Plan to Do Your Most Important Work
What are your values in life? Does your life and goals align with those values? We want to plan to do our most important work.
I use a life roles system I learned from David Sparks to manage my life. It helps me to define what is important in my life.
Anytime I plan for a quarter or a year, I first review my roles and the “best possible version” of myself for each role. Doing so always makes me aware of projects and habits I must implement in the new year to meet my ideals.
I look at what projects I’ve shipped, what projects are in my “projects on hold” folder, and what projects I’m still working on. I decide if I want to schedule projects any of these projects for the new year. If they no longer serve any purpose, I eliminate them.
In addition to new goals and projects, I also focus on what new habits and systems I must implement in the new year to accomplish my goals.
For example, if I decide to lose 25 pounds, how will I make that happen? I’ll need to reduce my calories and increase my exercise. I need to track them to reduce calories and stop eating when I reach my daily limit. How will I do that? I will use the calorie-tracking app FoodNoms. How will I remember to use FoodNoms? I’ll put it in my daily morning routine and start using it to track my two cups of coffee first thing in the morning.
Plan for a 12-Week Year
When I’m ready to do specific planning, I plan my work for the first quarter of the new year, not the full year.
A year is too long to plan for, except in a very general sense. I lose motivation, get lazy, and procrastinate when a whole year is before me. Furthermore, circumstances can change over a year.
“At the heart of annualized thinking is an unspoken belief that there is plenty of time in the year to make things happen. In January, December looks a long way off.”
The 12 Week Year, by Brian P. Moran and Michael Lennington
The key to the effectiveness of this kind of planning is to break the quarter down into weekly plans. “The weekly plan is a powerful tool that translates your 12 week plan into daily and weekly action. The weekly plan is the instrument that organizes and focuses your week.” The 12 Week Year.
In planning for the quarter, I suggest you block time on your calendar to work on ongoing projects. Do your weekly planning on Friday or the weekend. Block out time on your calendar during the coming week to accomplish your work.
Treat these blocks of time as appointments with yourself, not to be broken unless a higher-priority task arises. For more information on time blocking, see David Sparks, The Hyper-Scheduling Experiment.
A 12-week plan helps me to evaluate my progress and keep me on track. If I screw up the quarter or life gets in the way, I have a whole new 12-week period to start anew. “With 12 week planning, every 12 weeks stands alone; every 12 weeks is a new year and a fresh opportunity to be great.” The 12 Week Year.
Take Action by Reflecting and Planning
Take a more deliberate approach to achieving your goals in the new year. Instead of waiting until New Year’s Day to make resolutions that often fail, start reflecting on the past year in December and set goals for the new year.
Reflect on your accomplishments, challenges, and areas for growth. Then, create a plan that includes the habits and systems necessary to reach your goals.
Don’t think about the entire year, but focus on 12 weeks to stay motivated and track your progress. You can make the new year successful by taking action now and implementing a thoughtful planning process.