Setting Goals Effectively for 2020

Author: Ryan Jenkins

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2020 is here! (YAY!) and Millions of people around the world are setting New Year’s Resolutions that they’ll abandon by February.

I’m not trying to be a downer… just a realist. I read somewhere that ~85% of people will have abandoned their resolutions within a month.

It’s a pretty sucky situation if you ask me. You want to be the best version of yourself but as a fallible human, you struggle to make it happen. We get it. We’re humans too.

Luckily, we know a hack that will make you successful from day 1. Ready?

Start with a “Why” Vision

Don’t think of your resolutions as “goals that must be achieved”. Not yet anyway.

Instead, define a vision of the kind of person you want to be.

Example: “I’m working to be the kind of person who takes care of his body.”

See what I did right there? Every day that you make a healthy decision, you can check the box and feel like a winner because you ARE working to be the kind of person who takes care of his body. You don’t have to wait 9 months (years?) to be successful, you’re successful today!

Define the “What”

You’ve got the vision, now write down exactly what it means to be the kind of person who takes care of his body. Here are two examples:

  1. A person who takes care of his body is active every day
  2. A person who takes care of his body eats nutritiously

See we’re getting a LITTLE BIT more detailed. Let’s go deeper now.

Define the How

  1. A person who takes care of his body is active every day
    • I’ll do 5 push-ups every day before I get in the shower
    • I’ll take the stairs at work instead of the elevator
  2. A person who takes care of his body eats nutritiously
    • I’ll stop drinking carbonated drinks before 4pm
    • I’ll keep mixed nuts in my desk for when I’m craving a snack

Action Plan

Now that you know what you need to do, take steps to get it done. Run to Costco and buy those mixed nuts. Put a Post-it on the shower door so you can’t forget. Get rid of the sodas from your pantry.

Make the hard decisions now while you’re motivated so you don’t have to make them when you’re mentally and emotionally exhausted.

Momentum Trumps High Achievement

Through all this, remember that it’s better to accomplish a small goal regularly than it is to accomplish a big ambitious goal a few times.

If you do 5 push-ups every day you’ll finish the year having done over 1800 push-ups!! That crushes the guy who’s trying to go to the gym 3x a week for 30 minutes (and failing by March).

So get out there, set some tiny goals, and destroy them!! Let us know how it goes for you.


About the author

Ryan is a self-proclaimed gourmet hamburger connoisseur and unrepenting peanut-butter addict. He's got an incredible wife, 4 lovely kids, and lives in Northern Utah.


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