Resolutions versus Goals

I remember as a kid, people asking me: “what are your resolutions this year?” and feeling excited to make a list of things I wanted to start doing or stop doing. The issue is, I never did these things and it just made me feel like a total failure.

“Resolution” holds something punctual, vague and blurry to it. Almost as if we are clearing up our good conscience by saying “oh this year, I’m going to go to the gym” knowing we won’t - ever!

I’ve stopped taking resolutions a long time ago. For that specific reason.

Rather now I focus on goals.

And it’s not even a new year thing, it’s the will to commit to elements that are important in my life to get the results I want to obtain.

So how are goals different from resolutions?

Goals are defined as “the object of a person's ambition or effort; an aim or desired result.” So much more specific and clear. And you should make them that.

To guide you I’ll take the example of sports, bare in mind this is an applicable pattern to any goal you set yourself, in your work life and in your personal life.

Be specific

Instead of saying “I’ll go to the gym” ; pick a sport, something you like, something that motivates you, something you take pleasure in doing and you’ll actually look forward to.

Be realistic

If the goals you set doesn’t realistically fit your lifestyle you are setting yourself up for failure.

I absolutely love dancing and would love to get back to dancing classes. However my schedule right now makes it impossible for me to make it fit. If I were to take a dancing class, I’d miss most of them and I know that upfront. Instead, I found a sport I also enjoy but that is much more flexible and doesn’t require me going to a specific place at a specific time: running.

Make it recurrent so it becomes a habit

I’ve committed to go at least twice a week, if I can, I’ll go three times. And unless I’m sick, have an exceptional event that prevents me from going, I’ll go. No matter the weather, no matter if I don’t feel up for it, I’ll go. Once you’ve made that commitment with yourself it’s so much easier and you know you’ll get the results you want by sticking to that schedule.

Brake it down by sub tasks or occurrences

In order to motivate me, I participate in runs which give me a clear performance objective to work towards. I first started with a short 6 kilometers which I trained for, then did a 10 kilometers run. Now, I’m training for the Paris Half Marathon. I’m not trying to be a professional runner, but I love having that big event to look forward to as a challenge for myself and as a way to track my progression.

In business, if you are vague about where you want and what you want to achieve, you most likely won’t get successful results. When I work with Partners, I make sure we define together our ambition, the milestones to achieve them, the governance we’ll put in place to track our progress as well as the key events / occurrences that will support our ambition.

What is your experience setting goals for yourself? Are you actively shaping your present to achieve what you want in your future?

Let me know your thoughts & do reach out for more examples.

Pauline