Did you know that more than half of all resolutions fail due to lack of knowledge on identifying the right resolution and lack of planning skills to reach it?

Here are some few tips that aids to make an achievable New Year’s Resolution;

Picking the right resolution is crucial as a lot fail since they are not the right resolutions. According to FranklinCovey, a time management firm, one third of resolutions don’t past the end of January. Many resolutions fail if they are created based on what someone else wants to change in you, lack of a realistic plan to achieve it and your resolution being too vague.

So how to set the right resolutions?

Firstly, your set goals should be SMART. Simply, your goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time bound. Lets’ break it down,

Specific – You should have a crystal clear resolution making it a concrete goal to achieve. If you want to earn money, you need to have a goal on ‘How much money do you want to make and at what time interval?

Measurable – Measuring the goal becomes much easier if it’s about money or weight loss. You should always track your progress and see whether you are closer to achieve the goal or have finally achieved it. According to Jeffrey Gardere, a professor at Touro College stated that making notes on your progress on to an app or phone aids to track behaviors that could reinforce the progress irrespective of the resolution one could have.

Achievable – Your goal should always be achievable. Trying to take big steps too fast can make you frustrated which will eventually lead to failure. Thereby, its crucial to set realistic goals. For instance, resolving to save money should start with saving an extra $100 a month without saving your whole salary. If that works, you can start increasing the amount gradually to an extra $150 or $200.

Relevant – You should always set goals that really matters to you and think whether you are making it for the right reasons. According to Dr. Michael Bennett, a psychiatrist, if you do something out of the sense of self hate, you are likely to fail.

Time bound – The timeline of reaching the goal needs to be realistic at all times. That is, you should give yourself enough time to do with many intermediate goals along the way. In order to make a gradual progress, you should always focus on the small wins as you are building a habit for the next decade and not for few months.

After setting a SMART goal, the next step is to create a plan. If you want to change a behavior of yours or form a habit, the first thing you should do is to break down the habit into three parts: a cue, a routine and a reward. If you have a bad habit of browsing social media all the time, your cue may be isolation, routine may be checking Facebook on every five minutes while reward can be to feel connected. Thereby to break the habit, you can talk to a friend instead of browsing Facebook. When you continue to do so, this becomes the good habit that you replaced with the bad habit. Your reward can be the good bond formed between you and your friend.

No resolution plan will flow smoothly without disruptions. There can be situations that can push your away from the goals. Before hurdles get in your path, you should make sure to have a plan to overcome them. having backup plans could actually save you and avoid stressful situations along the way. Make sure to have a flexible plan when life gets hard.

Lastly, find a community that pushes you to achieve the best and never give up on your goals. Learn to fightback!