It’s not a goal, it’s a wish list.

I love setting goals. It’s one of my favorite and most productive habits. However, because of my love for goal setting, I have never been enticed by the New Year’s resolutions culture. Out of the 45% of Americans who make a resolution, only 8% achieve their goal.  I like to accomplish my goals and clearly, New Year’s resolutions aren’t the best way to do so.

What makes New Year’s resolutions so unsuccessful?

They are extreme.

Right after the holiday’s, which are usually filled with all the habits that people are trying to eradicate,  people feel a desire to start afresh. They compensate by overcommitting. People who haven’t gone to the gym in months set their New Year’s resolutions to workout 6 times a week.

This can quickly become too intense and overwhelming from original habits. These extremes remain largely unrealistic and when unaccomplished can result in feelings of discouragement, failure and a loss of self-confidence.

When failing to accomplish these goals it can create a negative connotation with setting goals in the future.

If you want a better alternative to New Year’s resolutions follow this simple structure.

First Step: Set Intentions

When you clearly define your intentions you can begin to map out the steps to achieve them.

For example, I really wanted to develop my songwriting abilities. So after identifying that intention, I created a plan to build that skills. I’m writing a song a day for 7 days with no minimum or maximum time expectancy. The proceeding 7 days I am going to spend refining the songs I wrote.

Often people focus on eradicating what they don’t like, instead of building upon the skills they are good at. I’ve been building my writing skills and incorporated that into my songwriting goal. What is something you are good at? How can you incorporate that into your goals of spending more time with your family or weight loss?

Second Step: Prioritize

You can not do it all at once and you can not do it perfectly.

Focus on what you can handle right now. Maybe that means adding some more greens to your meal, taking the stairs instead of the elevator or parking a little farther away to get some additional exercise.

At times doing a little can be a lot to ask. Breaking down your goals will make them more feasible.

Do not get stuck in perfection paralysis.

Third Step: Start Small

The mentality of ‘go big or go home’ isn’t all it’s hyped up to be.

There is no easy way to do hard things. But there are steps to make the process more efficient and enjoyable.

Not because you can’t do hard things but because that’s not the way our brains work. We don’t do well with big dramatic changes overnight. We do well with small incremental adjustments over time.

Small, moderate and doable is where you will find the most success.

A lot more effective and powerful, although it won’t be a great replacement to use when cheering on your favorite team.

You can apply these principles to create a more successful lifestyle and achieve your goals.