It is the end of the first month of the New Year. So, I thought I would check-in and see how your New Year’s resolutions are going. Did you know that most New Year resolutions are broken by now? A recent Forbes article on this subject shared unofficial dates that recognize the failure of achieving New Year’s resolutions. According to this article, “Ditch New Year’s Resolutions Day”, is January 17th and “Quitters Day” is noted as the second Friday in January.

Wow, take a second to think about that! The willpower to achieve most New Year’s resolutions barely lasts past two weeks!

If we made our business goals like we make New Year’s resolutions, few would be accomplished. So, I started thinking about why do we set ourselves up for personal failure?

Why are our New Year’s resolution goals so lofty? Why not set more achievable goals?

There are common resolutions that most of us set as cited in this same article by the Forbes Health/OnePoll survey which found that the most popular resolutions are general like:

Improve fitness
Lose weight
Improve finances

I always suggest to my clients that they use the SMART method when approaching goals. Goals should be SPECIFIC, MEASUREABLE, ACHIEVABLE, REALISTIC and TIMELY. The same approach should be used when setting your personal goals like New Year’s resolutions.

Instead of “improve fitness”, what about, “Increase your steps by 5,000 a day”; or “Walk a 15-minute mile three times a week for the first 30 days”? Once achieved, adjust goal upward.
Instead of “lose weight”, what about, “Lose one pound a week until I hit my goal weight”?
Instead of “improve finances”, what about, “Pay off X amount/debt by X month”?

You get the point. If we break our goals down into more achievable segments then the over-arching goal will be reached.

The same approach is successful for our business plans. Developing a roadmap that helps you achieve your SMART goals along the way is extremely important. Here’s a timeless article on Creating a Strategic Plan for Your Business.

You cannot do it all at once, make a plan; stay the course and do not quit or ditch your goals; whether it’s New Year’s resolutions or business goals! You got this!

Sonya Ruff Jarvis, Managing Member, Jarvis Consultants

Sonya Ruff Jarvis is a Business & Marketing Consultant; Content Creator & Connection-Maker; Thought Leader & Industry Expert and Book Author & Entrepreneur. Areas of expertise include: Retail; Marketing; Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI); and Human Resources. Sonya has been a part of the B2B retail industry for more than 30 years. Interested in Sonya’s books? They can be found on Amazon or get an author autographed copy at www.jarvisconsultants.com.

Let’s talk about your next project and how Jarvis Consultants can support your initiatives; email sonya@jarvisconsultants.com. www.jarvisconsultants.com