For over 4,000 years people have wished each other a HAPPY new year as they engaged in cultural rituals to invite prosperity into the year ahead. In our family, we eat Hopping John on New Year’s Day, a Southern tradition to invite prosperity in the new year. The black-eyed peas symbolize coins and good luck. We also place kadomatsu by the door. Composed of pine needles for longevity and health, and bamboo for vitality and prosperity, kadomatsu invites the Shinto god Toshigami-sama to bring good luck and blessings.

Making “New Year’s Resolutions” is a cultural ritual with long historical roots. Ancient Babylonians promised to repay their debts. Ancient Romans promised good behavior. Whether these resolutions were kept is unknown.

In more recent times, folk wisdom and statistics indicate that many resolutions are made, and most remain unfulfilled at the end of the year.

Making Resolutions

The top five resolutions in 2024 were: saving money; being happy; exercising more; improving physical health and eating a healthier diet. Items two and five are subsets of item three. Plus, it’s hard to tell if resolutions to improve one’s health are personal commitments, or a reflection of cultural messages, as in “I should improve my health.”

The key question is, just because we should do something, are we committed enough to do something about it? The state of “being happy,” is an immeasurable goal. And the commitment to saving more money is ambiguous at best. In 2023, 94 percent of people who made New Year Resolutions failed to keep them. In fact, so m any people abandon their resolutions before February, that National Quitters Day is acknowledged the second Friday in January. This year it falls on January 10th.

The most common resolution is to exercise more — whether that means more than never or more than three times weekly often remains unspecified. About 10 percent of gym membership sales are at the beginning of January. However, actual gym participation begins dropping off the third week in January.

SMART Goal Setting

The difference between a generic, fallible New Year Resolution and a successful achievement is setting SMART goals. A goal is more than a promise or resolution. It is a commitment. A SMART goal is a goal with an action plan.

SMART goals are:
• Specific – Defining what will be accomplished & how it will be achieved
• Measurable – Incorporating trackable benchmarks
• Achievable – Is the goal something that can be achieved?
• Relevant – The reason for the goal
• Time-Bound – When will the goal be achieved

My Goals for 2025

So, what am I resolved to do in 2025? My professional goals for 2025 are reasonably SMART.

At the top of my list is publishing Sea Tigers & Merchants as an audiobook. This goal is deferred from 2024, due to technical difficulties. At this point, it looks like a spring launch is reasonable.

My second goal is to complete the as yet untitled prequel to my Salem Stories series. Mention the word Salem, and people think of witches. Every Halloween we hear about the 17th century witch hysteria that took place. But, what happened before that first arrest? What changed between 1672 and 1692? These are my questions as I write the stories of a few of the people involved in the events that closed out 17th century Salem. I’m hoping to release this summer.

My personal goal is to reduce my stress points and remember that all things happen in their own time. I cannot hurry them or delay them. I can only follow Thich Nhat Hanh’s advice to “Smile, Breathe, & Go Slowly.”

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Sandra’s Books: Sea Tigers & Merchants. Ambition, Arrogance & Pride. Saxon Heroines. Two Coins. Rama’s Labyrinth.

Illustrations & A Few Sources

Kadomatsu by Author; New Year Postcard; Gym Cardio Area. Photo by www.localfitness.com.au; SMART poster by Author; Woman with Wax Tablet & Stylus. Linda Poon. “The Rise & Fall of New Year’s Fitness Resolutions.” Bloomberg. Jan. 16, 2019. Simon Bell. “SMART Goals.” Mindtools.

The post Setting Resolutions & Pursuing Goals: An Annual Tradition first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

It may seem a bit late to write about New Year Resolutions, unless I resolved to write about them last week, but failed to do so, so now I’m starting my resolution again. Or perhaps my resolution was not to start writing my blog again until the middle of January, in which case I’m right on target. That’s the thing about resolutions. Only the “Resolver” really knows what’s going on.

As the Harlequin Joker on the left muses,

Each resolution that I make

My conscience sorely troubles

Because I find they always break

As easy as soap bubbles.

Common Resolutions

A recent article in Forbes indicated that 62 percent of American adults feel pressured to make a New Year resolution. A resolution made under pressure isn’t apt to last very long, because the Resolver isn’t really interested in achieving the stated goal.

The most common resolutions are about what you might expect:

Are Resolutions Doable?

The goals above are worthy goals – but whose goals are they? Let’s take the well-known example of fitness. During the first two weeks of January, gym attendance increases about 4 per cent. And then returns to the usual rate of participation. The drop-off has two effects. Regular patrons are happy because they don’t have to stand in line for their fitness machines behind the newbies . The gym owners are happy because they get to keep the membership fees whether the new member participates or not.

Exercise, by the way, does not have to happen in a class or at a gym. Walking, for example, can be done anytime and almost anywhere. But I digress from the topic of resolutions. See how that works? Many resolutions fail because once regular routines return, sincere people are distracted, over-scheduled, or just plain tired. In fact, 80 percent of all New Year Resolutions fail by the end of January.

Quitters’ Day

As the illustration on the left notes, Your New Year’s Resolution: Resolve to renew all your old resolves and add a few that are new. Resolve to keep them as long as you can. What more can a poor man do?

Quitters’ Day occurs the second Friday in January. This year that day fell on January 12, which you will note is several days ago. So it seems that not only am I late to the topic of resolutions, I’m also late in quitting them.

Not so. Ditch New Year’s Resolutions Day is January 17^th which is tomorrow. Whew! I made a deadline.

The point is If you change your mind about resolutions, it’s okay to let them go.

Rewards & Penalties

Resolutions are culturally tricky. We often make them to meet some requirement outside ourselves which makes success less likely. Then if we slip, we act as if we have failed at something important.

For example if on January 1, I resolve to eat kale because I know it is good for me, even though I hate the texture and the taste,

Then, each day I manage to swallow kale, my brain applauds and releases the endorphins dopamine & serotonin. I still don’t like kale, but at least I get a reward. And for the first week, I fulfill my resolution.

However, if on January 8, I can’t choke down another bite of the wretched vegetable, I give up. I don’t get any endorphins, but I do get a lot of cortisol, the stress hormone. I also feel like a failure, a person who can’t do something as simple as drowning the kale in ranch dressing and swallowing it. Obviously I don’t care about my health. Well, you can see where this sort of self-talk will go.

But then it’s Quitters’ Day. [I must have a lot of company if there’s a day devoted to quitting New Year Resolutions.] My slate is clear again. I can set a new goal. And this time, I’m going to be SMART.

Setting SMART Goals

According to the SMART system of setting goals, also known as making resolutions, a successful goal is Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time Based

How does my failed goal measure up?

The goal to eat kale was Specific. It was Measurable. It was Not Attainable, because I don’t like kale. It was Relevant in a generalized way. It wasn’t Time Based, because there was no end date.

How can I make a better goal for the same general purpose? Let’s change the goal to “I am going to increase the amount of fresh vegetables in my diet over the next six months from one to four servings daily and keep a photographic record of my intake, because I think a plant-based diet is healthier.”

Is my new goal SMARTer?

The goal is Specific and Measurable. It is Attainable, because I like most vegetables. It is Relevant to increasing my vegetable servings, and it is Time Based because this goal is set for six months. Also, the use of the word goal rather than resolution makes the entire process less dramatic. Let the endorphins roll.

Bottom Line Considerations

Resolutions & Goals are NOT Required.

If you choose to set goals, set them for yourself, not because the goal is something you should do.

Make SMART goals, not random aspirations.

Wishing you a Happy New Year of Good Health & Joy!

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Illustrations & A Few Sources

New Year Postcard, 1909; FRIYAY Roux Fitness, Jefferson LA 2022 by Colin Van Dervort; Diet Picture; Stressball by Andreas Schikora; Piggy Bank by free pick.com; Young Man on Treadmill by Nina Stojikovic; New Year Resolution Postcard, 1915; Advertisement for Comedy: Are You a Failure?; SMART Goals by Dungdm93. Kat Boogaard. How To Write Smart Goals. Atlassian. Dec. 26, 2021. Sarah Davis. “New Years Resolutions Statistics 2024.” Forbes. Dec 18 2023. “What Happens in Your Brain When you Fail?” Heartmanity’s Blog. 

Sandra’s Books: Ambition, Arrogance & Pride. Saxon Heroines. Two Coins. Rama’s Labyrinth.

The post Successful Resolutions Require SMART Goals first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

Last week I suggested everyone should ignore the annual guilt-ridden exercise of making resolutions. But it’s a hard custom to shake, which makes worth spending a little time analyzing the process.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, Puritans spent their birthdays and January 1 in an exercise of intense introspection. During the process, they looked for their shortcomings, invariably impressed by the many ways they sinned and failed God. For the Puritans, self-reflection was part of their goal of reaching heaven. Perfection was impossible, so all fell short.

This may be why, no matter how sincere our “resolution,” we never expect to accomplish the task we set out. We don’t really expect to lose 50 pounds, or completely declutter, or achieve any other self-improvement goal. The task we set ourselves is so general and large, it overwhelms us before we begin.

The entire process of making a resolution begins with the assumption that something is wrong and needs immediate correction. Have you ever seriously resolved to have more fun? The goal is too frivolous, and who knows what fun is anyway.

The entire process of making resolutions is so self-defeating, we no longer make resolutions; we set goals instead.

Goal Setting Should Be SMART

Goal setting is not a bad thing. Working in the flow, for example, doesn’t mean we won’t accomplish anything. But goals have to be SMART.

A goal should be:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Realistic
• Time Sensitive

I have 2 broad goals for 2020. Let’s see if they’re SMART.

PRIMARY GOAL: Complete the first draft of my current novel by the end of 2020.

• The goal is specific, even though I don’t know how the story will end.
• It’s easy to measure, because when I finish the last chapter, it’s done.
• I think it’s achievable, because I’ve written books before.
• One year to complete a draft is realistic. (One year to complete an edited manuscript, not so much.)
• A year is a year, so I’ll check that off.

SECONDARY GOAL: Complete family history and photo books.

This one is tough. It’s been on the list for 3 years, and remains undone, though progress has been made. Hmmm. Let’s see if I can pare it down.

LET’S TRY: Complete photo book for maternal family history. That works better.

• It’s specific. I already scanned the photos and traced the genealogy.
• It’s easy to measure. So far, I’m 0 and 3. But,
• It’s achievable, and
• Realistic to create one photo book, compared to the entire family history.
• And, once again, I’ll check off time sensitive.

I know I’ll complete the draft of my novel, and I should be able to complete the photo book for my maternal family history, unless I get sidetracked by something like gardening.

HOW DID I DO LAST YEAR?

In 2019, my goals were:

• Complete the audiobook format for Two Coins: A Biographical Novel
• Complete my website update
• Complete the research for my current novel
• Complete the family history and photo books

I succeeded in three out of four goals, so not too bad. Research on my current novel even got me into the flow state.

HOW ABOUT YOU?

Did find your flow last year? Will you look for it in 2020? Leave a comment.

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New Year Resolution Post Card, 1915

Tinset cat wearing glasses by Cardiffchestnut

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