My Top 2 Tips for New Year Resolutions

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

At the start of every new year, I am inevitably asked by someone if I have a New Year’s resolution. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with making New Year’s resolutions, I just usually don’t make them. When it comes to setting goals at the onset of the new year (or any time for that matter) I think it’s far more productive to 1). focus on the design or process of reaching a goal (not just the goal itself), and 2). reduce the number of goals you may have and focus on the most important ones.

We are less likely to achieve our goals when we don’t fully understand what it takes to achieve them. This is why it’s critical to design a process for reaching a goal versus simply setting the goal itself.

Create an Environment for Success

One of the best pieces of advice I was given early on in my career about achieving goals was to create an environment for success. For example, if you have a goal to exercise in the morning, place your gym shoes and workout clothes at the foot of your bed so you don’t have to search for them in the morning. This way you can quickly put your clothes on without stumbling and shuffling around in the morning trying to figure out where things are. If you want to eat better, take all the food out of your house that you know you shouldn’t eat. If you have a goal to read “x” number of books in a year, then…