New Years Resolutions – Be SMART!

With the end of the old year and the start of the new there is always an excess of celebration and fun yet many people also take the opportunity to look to what they would like to achieve in the year ahead. This involves the making of one or more new years resolutions. Whether these are private or shared with others, resolutions are commitments to do or achieve something in the coming year. New year’s resolutions are potentially thought to date back to 1671, yet by 1802 they were already the subject of satirical comedy, as even back then people were unable to keep them (Merriam Webster, 2024). Therefore, the tradition for breaking new years resolutions is already a long one so it is best not to let a failed resolution bog you down.

However, to give yourself the best odds for success when starting new resolutions, maybe we should be taking a page out of the corporate business’ books and making sure our resolutions are SMART. The acronym SMART for goal setting was introduced in 1981 by George Doran and have been adapted since to help set achievable goals (Bjerke & Renger, 2017).

The acronym stands for:

(Bjerke & Renger, 2017)

An example of how the SMART goal structure can apply to new year’s resolutions is as follows (The following examples are generic examples of new year’s resolutions and by no means indicate what an individual should target to achieve).

Example 1:

Initial resolution without SMART – I want to eat less chocolate.

Resolution with SMART – I will eat a maximum of 1 chocolate bar each week until the end of the year to reduce sugar intake. This will not apply to special events or occasions such as a birthday party where there is chocolate and chocolate will not be replaced with a similar high sugar food. I may choose to track when I consume chocolate to ensure I meet this target if I find that helpful.

Example 2:

Initial resolution without SMART – I want to do more exercise.

Resolution with SMART – I will exercise at least twice a week until the end of the year in order to feel healthier in myself. I will record when I complete exercise in a diary and will attempt to make up missed exercise sessions, if possible. If I am unable to catch up, then I will resume exercising 2 times a week. This does not include exercising when on holiday for a week or longer.

SMART goals are an excellent way to set new years resolutions and may give you the edge you need to achieve your goals this coming year. However, maintaining resolutions can be incredibly hard even when they’re SMART and sometimes they aren’t met for a variety of reasons. The most important thing to remember is just because something went wrong with the resolution, that doesn’t mean you can’t do the next thing right. Good luck to everyone with their resolutions this year.

References

Bjerke, M. B., & Renger, R. (2017). Being smart about writing SMART objectives. Evaluation and Program Planning, 125-127.

Merriam Webster. (2024, Jan 02). New Year’s Resolutions: A Pretty Old Practice. Retrieved from Merriam Webster: