3 Strategies for Setting New Year’s Resolutions that are Going to Work

Today, I’m talking about how to set New Year’s Resolutions that actually WORK.

Here are three strategies that have been effective for me…

Strategy #1: Your New Year’s resolutions shouldn’t be easy for you.

A friend of mine once told me, “John, you’re going to be good at business just because you woke up today.” What he meant was, business just comes naturally to me. I don’t have to try super hard to succeed.

He continued, “Instead of setting attainable goals at the beginning of each year (such as in business), you should set goals for things that you’re unlikely to be successful at.”

I thought that was really good advice.

So, when I set New Year’s Resolutions, I tend to focus on things at which I don’t have a ton of experience.

For example, I’ve never been a husband or a father before. So, many of my goals challenge me to be more intentional in connecting with my wife and children.

Strategy #2: How do you quantify success with hard-to-measure goals?

Okay, so I’m aiming to be a better husband and father.

Great New Year’s Resolution! But how do I quantify success?

At the end of each day, I ask myself questions that help me understand if I succeeded in my relational goals.

For example, I ask,  How hard did I try to prioritize my wife? Did I say “yes” to helping her out?

Then, I score myself on a scale of 0-10.

Another personal question I ask is, Did I detach from the desire to be in control?

Again, I score myself on a scale of 0-10.

Of course, no one’s judging me on this process. But it’s a strategic way to remember goals that are more “touchy feely”…and be successful at meeting them.

Strategy #3: Reframe more traditional goals from “receiving” to “giving.”

If you have a more conventional New Year’s Resolution – like making a certain income or getting a promotion at work – consider how to reframe your goal.

At Gluch Group, we sell homes. But we don’t want to make our New Year’s Resolutions focus on the number of houses we sold, or the money we made.

Instead, we focus on how well we’re serving our clients.

In order to quantify success, we take a look at numbers that reflect satisfaction – not more income. For example, How many 5-star reviews did we get?

Are we doing what it takes to make our clients happy? Are we showing up to appointments on time? Responding to emails? Working hard to find homes for families?

You might want to ask yourself, “What do I have to give in order to get where I want to go?”

Focus on giving your best, using your resources well, and serving your clients or workplace. Ultimately, these activities will help you succeed at more “quantifiable” New Year’s Resolutions.

Lastly, one book that I have found extremely useful in helping me reach my goals is called Living Your Best Year Ever, written by my friend and mentor Darren Hardy. I highly recommend it if you want to learn how to set and accomplish big goals.