We all set goals for the coming year with New Year’s resolutions. Goals can range from starting up an exercise routine or changing your eating habits to being more compassionate towards others. It’s all the things we wanted to do this year, but never resolved to do them.
Young adults in the categories of Millennials and Gen Zer’s use goal setting and achievement as measures of success. Let’s explore what that looks like.
Who Commits to Goals?
Younger generations are far more likely to commit to a goal. 58.7 million millennials intend to set goals for themselves. What do millennials see as things to aspire to, and worth setting goals for?
The top six goals are saving money, good health, a fulfilling career, personal growth, relationship growth with loved ones, and improved family life. More than half of millennials (approximately 53.12%) prioritize financial goals, while most Gen Xers, boomers, and the silent generation prioritize health. (Goldsmith)
Why Do We Set Goals?
Many people set the bar high at this time of year because a new year feels like a new beginning. Going after resolutions can sometimes result in people biting off more than they can chew. Still, it can offer fantastic opportunities to overcome obstacles using willpower, determination, and creativity.
How to Define Your Goals
- Invest in Yourself The act of evolving into a more competent, all-around person through various tasks, objectives, and pursuits is known as investing in oneself. To do this, you might increase your reading, create a schedule for yourself, or sign up for a course.
- Make Specific Career Goals A career goal is a set of short and long-term objectives related to one’s career path. Setting career goals is crucial because it spurs people to work toward achieving them.
- Health is Happiness The best type of investment anyone can have is good health. Before it’s too late, look at your current health practices and ask yourself if you’re living life to the fullest. Make sure you take care of your diet, exercise frequently, and get enough rest and sleep. A healthy lifestyle requires a lot of discipline, dedication, and commitment.
- Start a Journal We write down far fewer things than we remember. How do you keep track of all of them? How do they stay in order? Writing your thoughts down in a journal is an excellent way to organize them and clear your mind. Writing exercises can benefit anyone and expressing yourself in a private setting is a great way to keep your sanity.
- Establish Work-Life Balance Consider the best way to balance your work and personal life when planning a schedule that works for you. Work-life balance is about dividing your day evenly between work and personal activities. There may be days when you put in longer hours at work so you can fit in more leisure time during the week.
- Quit Smoking Remember that doing something to resist smoking is always preferable to doing nothing. You get one step closer to quitting tobacco each time you withstand a craving for smoking.
- Exercise More Combining exercise with a healthy diet can benefit your health. It’s never too late or early in life to start making this habit routine, so get started!
- Be Kind One of the best states of mind is that of kindness. Unlike other pleasurable activities, you have complete control over how much of it you do – but who wants to limit it? Practicing love and kindness is reciprocal – so do more if you want a life full of it!
Set Yourself Up for Success
It helps to stick to one goal at a time. Consider breaking larger goals into manageable chunks to work on one at a time. According to the American Psychological Association (APA), focusing on just one behavior at a time is more likely to lead to long-term success. Even achieving a small goal can boost your self-esteem. (Cherry)
Creating a detailed written plan can assist you in sticking to your goal. Why is this stage so crucial for success? For one thing, it allows you to consider what strategies you will employ when faced with difficulties. When things get tough, what methods will you use to stay on track toward making your resolution a reality? (Cherry)
Taking on too much too soon is a common cause of New Year’s resolution failure. Starting an unsustainable restrictive diet, going overboard at the gym, or drastically changing your normal behavior are all surefire ways to derail your plans. Instead, concentrate on taking small steps to help you achieve your larger goal.
Always remember one thing – you cannot change those unhealthy or undesirable habits overnight. Understand that developing your resolution is a process. Even if you make a few errors, you can start over and move forward toward your objective. Treat yourself with kindness.
Work Cited
The Millennial Grind. “50 Best New Year’s Resolution Ideas for 2023.” The Millennial Grind, 7 July 2022, millennial-grind.com/50-best-new-years-resolution-ideas/.
Goldsmith, Margie. “Will Your New Year’s Resolution Fail?” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 29 Dec. 2020, www.forbes.com/sites/margiegoldsmith/2021/12/29/will-your-new-years-resolution-fail/?sh=349b5e991aad.
Cherry, Kendra. “10 Great Tips to Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions.” Verywell Mind, Verywell Mind, 22 June 2022, www.verywellmind.com/how-to-keep-your-new-years-resolutions-2795719.
