A Goal with a Plan Beats a Resolution Every Day of the Year 

We’ve finally crossed into 2022, and so that means many of us are making New Year’s resolutions. According to U.S. News & World Report, the failure rate for New Year’s resolutions is said to be about 80 percent, and most lose their resolve by mid-February. We all know that keeping resolutions can be extremely difficult. But why? 

1. Resolutions are often vague or extreme
2. They are far more aspirational than they are attainable
3. We don’t include an outside force to hold us accountable
4. We don’t have a plan in place for meeting our goals

But what is the difference between committing to a resolution and setting a goal?

Resolutions are statements of intention, while goals are statements of commitment.

Setting your intentions for the new year is a great idea, but distilling those ideas into a few tidy affirmations won’t help you realize that vision.

Here are some considerations when setting achievable goals:

• Clarify vague resolutions into specific goals. When you get specific about what success looks like, it gets much easier to stay connected to your desired outcome and create a plan to get there.

• Pair your goal with a simple but comprehensive plan. A good strategy will break your goal into smaller milestones that add up to your desired outcome. Keep the steps as simple and practical as possible.

• Find a support team or accountability partner. Meeting your goals is much easier if you have help from family and friends.

• Remember, setbacks are inevitable. Don’t beat yourself up if you take a step or two back. We’re all human, no one is perfect, and that is ok. If you do experience a setback, reach out to your support team, or reevaluate your goals.

• Keep going. Don’t set a rigid timeline for accomplishing what you want to accomplish. Trust that as long as you keep going with an open and honest mindset, you are making progress in the right direction.

Personally, I’ve been working on setting some business goals for myself in 2022. A lot of people say they want to try and get organized in the new year, but “getting organized” is so vague, it’s hard to even know where to start. Time management is crucial to freelancers, but it doesn’t come so easy for me. I needed some solid advice on how to structure my time. Luckily I found a great course on Linked-In Learning called Freelancing Foundations with Jay Clouse, that was able to provide me with some real-world tips from a working freelancer!

Here are a few tips to help you structure your days for maximum productivity:

1. Use a digital calendar that can sync up or integrate with other software

2. List your deadlines

3. Set up reminders

4. Create themes for each day of the week ( for example, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are for client work, Tuesdays are for meetings, Thursdays are for business administration and development)

5. Use time blocks to prioritize your work ( for example from 9-10 you answer emails, 10-12 is writing work, 1-3 is for editing, and so on…)

6. As a freelancer make sure you set aside time for business development, upskilling, and learning

As you begin setting your own goals, remember that a goal with a plan beats a resolution every day of the year!