When a year comes to an end, it’s very common for people to form goals for the upcoming new year to start living a healthier lifestyle. This is because people see it as a good time for a new beginning. Goals give people direction and purpose. Most times people make unrealistic goals for themselves which results in them not getting done. On the Straight Arrow News (SAN) website, it states that “less than 10% of people who make New Year’s Resolutions complete them”. A common reason for this is that people have false hope. People set unpractical goals which eventually leads to frustration and the feeling of quitting altogether before completing the goal. People who often have negative thought patterns are more likely to not finish their goals since they have a negative mindset and thoughts about failing. Another fact from the SAN website is that psychologists say that “failing is a normal part of the goal-setting process.” Failures are an effective process for completing goals.
Some helpful ways to keep you on track with your goals for the new year are prioritizing consistent small habits instead of creating big goals to begin. Starting off small allows you to grow at a good pace and gives you room to make mistakes. Setting S.M.A.R.T goals ensures that they are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time bound. It leads you to a plan if you don’t know where to start. Another thing is planning for setbacks. Preparing yourself for setbacks will help you get through it when it happens; it’s important to not fall into the all-or-nothing mindset. This means seeing that you must achieve a goal in perfect success or total failure, with no middle ground. This is unhealthy because it gives you the idea that you must be a perfectionist when everyone fails at times. Another helpful way to keep you motivated on completing your goals is tracking your progress as you go so when you look back at it you can see that you are improving even if it doesn’t feel like it.
I decided to interview my friend Pam Pollin who is a junior at C. Milton Wright. Her goals for 2026 are to go on daily runs, meal prep for the week, and make dinner from home each night. These are things that she currently does but wants to continue to make them habits entering the new year. She believes it’s important to stay motivated even on days that it feels hard. Her advice for people who are struggling with achieving their goals is that “consistency is key”. This doesn’t mean you can’t miss a day of your goal, but it means being able to get back on track and continue to make it apart of your daily routine.
