New Year’s Resolution, The Game Plan
For almost every person in the world, the new year signifies change and a fresh page in some sense. Hence, on the first day of the year, you commit yourself to either start doing something positive or quit doing something negative. These commitments are what we call a New Year’s Resolution.
Over the years, there have been a few recurring items on almost everyone’s New Year resolution list and so a few of the top 10 most common New Year resolutions include:
Top 10 Most Common New Year’s Resolution
- Read more books.
- Learn a new skill.
- Lose Weight.
- Save money.
- Quit a habit (especially smoking)
- Be more organized.
- Exercise.
- Spend quality time with family and close friends.
- Travel.
- Live a good life.
I’m pretty sure you have made a list like this at the end of a year or the beginning of one. And you are probably part of about 46% that have been found to not successfully carry out said actions by mid-year in a study carried out by Norcross and Mrykalo et al in 2002.
Presently, you have also probably gotten tired of making New Year’s resolutions because you never end up doing them. And currently, your question is this:
Are New Year’s Resolutions Effective?
Yes, they are. New Year Resolutions keep us from continuing the same cycles yearly, especially those that are detrimental to our minds, health and bodies. Now, the problem is that we aren’t going about the creation of these resolutions and commitments the right way. And in relation, this is the reason why you might be tired of making them, because you never really fulfil all you write.
A New Year’s Resolution Alternative
Maybe the problem is that we keep making lists. This is why, if you would, I’d like to suggest an idea; don’t make a list, but draw up a plan. Let’s call it: THE GAME PLAN.
The game plan is a reference from a 2007 movie whose title is the same. Dwayne Johnson, starring as Joe King, is an American celebrity footballer who meets his daughter, Payne, played by Madison Petti. Payne has to stay with him for the holiday and they create a “Game Plan” to ensure they both get what they want out of the holiday.
We would be adopting their phrase which I believe is a term used in sports to refer to the strategy planned out before a game, especially a football game.
The aim of the idea is this: if you want to achieve your New Year resolutions this coming year, you might have to do way better than a single-lined list of arbitrary things. You would have to sit for at least an hour, think through what you want to do, and how it would benefit you and create a foolproof plan to achieve it, at least as foolproof as possible.
The Game Plan: How To Effectively Create And Keep To New Year Resolutions.
There are a few steps to follow to create a good Game plan.
1. Firstly, you want to ensure your game plan is made according to the goal-setting criteria; S.M.A.R.T.
a. SPECIFIC:
This is a noteworthy point in mapping out a good plan. This point answers the question: “What will you achieve/what will you do?” You need to figure out exactly the actions you have to take.
For example, instead of “Read more books this year”, You should write “I will read books on sales and management.” This would help you plan better because you are certain of what you want to do. So, be specific.
b. Measurable:
Your plans have to be measurable in the sense that you can see the result of the activity you have set to carry out. This aspect of our plan answers the question “How much/how many?”
Using our previous example of reading books, let’s add measurability to our specific goal.
So, you should write, “I will read at least 10 books on sales and management.” And then, go further to list the books you’d want to read. By this, you can be certain when you have achieved the goal because, at the end of the year, you can count the number of books you’ve read.
c. Achievable:
This particular point is so important because failure to do this is what keeps people from acting on and even getting results from their New Year’s resolutions most of the time. Most times, in our bid to challenge ourselves to do and be better, we set unrealistic goals, goals that are too herculean or way greater than our capacity.
Hence, as you set your goal in your game plan this year, choose and write tasks that you can achieve. Don’t be too scared to start small.
Back to our previous example, an unachievable goal would be to say “I would read at least 100 books this year” as a person who did not complete any book in the past year and has a job, a 9-5 to commit to daily. While reading books is a wonderful, self-developing trait, it would be too tasking on you to begin cultivating the habit of reading consistently by trying to polish off 3 books in a week.
Setting unachievable goals would only cause you to give up, so, don’t be too ashamed to start small and build up.
d. Relevant
The one thing that would cause you to keep to your plans through the year is MOTIVATION. This is why when making New Year’s resolutions, you should commit to actions that would benefit one aspect of your life and would change something for or about you.
On days when you are tired, irritated or just bored from the constant routine, you remind yourself of the gratification that awaits you in the future and you would be psyched up to keep going.
For example: I will read at least 10 books on sales and management which would increase my knowledge and therefore, my performance at work. This would increase my chances for a promotion or a better-paying job.
e. Time-bound
Another important step in our plan is to allocate time to each task. Every goal you create needs to have a target date for it to be done successfully. If you don’t set a target date, you might procrastinate throughout the year. Now, you don’t want to set an unachievable time range here also.
How long would it take to achieve this task without affecting any other activity?
Example: This year, I will read at least 10 books on sales and management which would increase my knowledge and therefore, my performance at work. This would increase my chances for a promotion or a better-paying job. Hence, I would read a book per month.
2. Calm Down
Don’t write down too many tasks. It is very tempting to want to create a lot of goals. I mean, the aim is to become a better me, yes? Then, let’s do the whole makeover!
Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. If you write too many things, it would become difficult to keep up with them halfway into the year, if not before. Instead, prioritize 5-10 tasks/goals that are most important to you and do them intentionally. After you have gotten used to them, next year, you can pick out another 5 or 10.
A thousand drops of water make an ocean.
3. The Daily Dose
Break your goals into days, weeks and months. This is one of the greatest tips anyone could ever give a person. Don’t just leave it at “I would read 10 books this year.”
- Allocate a book for each month of the year.
- Divide the book for each month into chapters.
- Assign the appropriate number of chapters to each week of the month.
- Curate an estimated number of pages to read each day.
- Ensure you keep up with your daily quota.
This is the only way you won’t get tired of how overwhelming and large your goal is. When ants see a large piece of chocolate, they don’t cry out in despair about how large the chunk of chocolate is. No! What they do is that they begin to take tiny bites of the great piece and in some time, they will finish off the entire chunk of chocolate.
Be an ant this year. Take tiny chunks of work and keep at it. Look back after a month or two, see how much you have done and you’ll be so impressed by what little daily effort can birth.
4. Audit Your Steps
Have personal monthly reviews. Ask yourself these questions:
- Which of my plans was I able to achieve?
- Which were not done?
- How am I slipping?
- How can I do better and pick up the reins?
Remind yourself of why you’re doing all these and of the future gratification that is to come.
5. Get a planning App
Get a planning app or a To-do app. If possible, get one that you can link to your calendar and alarm apps. Then, set reminders, alarms and deadlines. In the hustle and bustle of our fast-paced world, it’s so easy to lose sight of plans you had made, so having constant reminders would keep you on your toes.
6. Never Ever Give Up Or Beat Yourself Up
One thing we know how to do pretty easily is give up. We tell ourselves, “This thing just isn’t working out” or “I’m not a routine girlie, I can’t keep up with this” and “I’ve been trying and it’s so hard, that means I can’t do this”
Yes, you can, girl! Just keep at it, you’re almost there. Remember that great things aren’t really easy to do but they are worth it. In times when you notice that you have slacked, don’t bother about catching up to where you are meant to be. Just focus on doing the daily dose. Always focus on the daily dose.
Now that you know how to make SMART goals as well as tips for execution, follow the step-by-step approach above and map out tasks and goals that you want to reach this year.
No, don’t just make a plan in your head, that won’t cut it. Pick up a pen or your smart device, open a new page and write out YOUR GAME PLAN!
Have a wonderful 2026 year ahead!
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