OUR VIEW: Resolutions are more than vague suggestions

So it’s been seven days and your shiny new gym membership is already lost under the mountain of Twinkie wrappers, and you sit in front of the TV watching shows you know are wasting your brain away.

Yep, you’ve already broken your New Year’s resolutions. Don’t worry, you’re not alone. You’re part of the ever-increasing number of people who make promises they fully intend to keep but promptly forget about or let fall to the wayside. According to a recent survey, approximately 90 percent of Americans fail to achieve their New Year’s resolutions by Valentine’s Day.

And yet year after year, millions of Americans make these New Year’s resolutions, hoping to better their lives and improve their self worth. But with statistics this high, why even try? What’s the point if the odds of you achieving your goals are about as low as winning something substantial in Vegas?

The real message is resolutions are an important part of becoming better people who in turn create a better society at large. But resolutions made once a year are not enough, and that is why so many of them fail. Think about it, why do we make resolutions just once a year? Shouldn’t we be making them all the time and evaluate how we’re doing? If we’ve failed, we should pick up the pieces and try again.

It’s all part of a bigger process of goal setting. Many of us make goals with fervent intent to accomplish our goals, yet 33 percent of Americans say they break their goals because they aren’t committed to them fully. If you can’t really commit to a goal, don’t make it. Find a goal that is truly worthwhile to you, and put your whole heart into it.

Another major problem with goal setting is getting too busy with life to make time for the goals you’ve set. Life does get busy, but the crucial thing to remember is that you are in control of your life and what you do with your time. So make time to meet your goals. You will feel more fulfilled as a person and will have the increased drive to do the other things that are demanded of your time.

Perhaps the biggest stumbling block in goal setting is not setting specific enough goals. Every year we hear the resolutions of people.

“I want to lose weight.”

“I want to eat healthier.”

“I want to be more outgoing.”

There are several problems with these resolutions. First off, they aren’t specific. They are generalities that can be rationalized when the going gets tough to the point where the motivation to accomplish these goals is next to none. A better way is to set a specific goal like losing five pounds or to cut out fast food or to talk to three new people every day. That way there is something to measure and to gauge how well you are doing.

Secondly, the above goals all say, “I want to …” Wanting doesn’t accomplish much. Instead, say, “I will …” Sure it’s a change of one word, but the word ‘will’ denotes motive and commitment.

Lastly, effective goals should have a time limit to them, such as losing five pounds in the next six months. This gives a deadline to work toward.

At the start of this new year, let’s not waste energy making meaningless goals. Let’s set goals that are specific to our individual needs and stick to them, make new ones and be the best we can be.