Rethinking Your Resolutions

This year, instead of opting for a variety of different intentions, pick a single theme, such as “Year of Adventure.”

This one idea can then serve as the guiding light for all your actions throughout the coming months.

At the flip of the calendar, you likely set high hopes for the year, establishing various milestones you wanted to reach. But as you settle into your routine and your schedule fills up, you may already be finding it harder and harder to keep up with your resolutions. Instead of becoming discouraged, however, it might be time to try some alternative approaches to traditional goal setting. With a change of mindset and strategy, your good intentions may just become a little less daunting and a little more achievable.

Establish a theme

Resolutions are all about identifying and committing to ways you can improve your life. Maybe you want to hit 10,000 steps each day and put 5 percent more toward your retirement savings than you did in 2024. With such wide-ranging goals, you may wind up feeling pulled in too many different directions, quickly becoming overwhelmed by all the things you want to do.

This year, instead of opting for a variety of different intentions, pick a single theme, such as “Year of Adventure.” This one idea can then serve as the guiding light for all your actions throughout the coming months. Following the example of adventure, you might aim to save more each month for a dream trip, learn a new activity that may have otherwise seemed too daunting, or even start tackling your bucket list. By having one specific theme, you may feel more excited about what’s ahead rather than stressed over trying to juggle too many specific and unrelated goals.

Try system setting

One big problem with goals is that once they’re reached, people often just move on to something else. For instance, say you set a goal to lose ten pounds. To hit it, you go to the gym, eat a little healthier, and watch the number on the scale drop to your target weight. At that point, though, you may simply stop all the positive behaviors you’ve picked up because they no longer have a purpose. That’s where the idea of system setting comes into play. Focusing on systems instead of outcomes means prioritizing the process over the end result, which can ultimately lead to more sustainable lifestyle changes and better habits.

As an example, consider the behaviors of athletes. They all want to win each game or match. However, some aim to do so simply by preparing for the individual game itself, while others focus on preparing themselves for the challenge. So where one player may only do what their coach instructs them to every day, another may build their own regimen on top of that for studying and strategizing the game plan, conducting extra workouts, and fine-tuning their skills. Who do you think is more likely to succeed? Such habitual systems are what can help you to make real progress toward your aspirations and inspire greater changes in your day-to-day life.

Set anti-goals

“Anti-goals” offer a refreshing twist to the conventional notion of resolutions, centering on what you want to avoid versus what you want to achieve. For instance, if you intend to spend less time scrolling on your phone, a helpful anti-goal might be to set a time limit on certain sites and apps. This strategy works backward, starting with a specific aspect of your life you don’t like, to help you establish rules for preventing a worst-case scenario, such as spending five hours a day on social media. By establishing anti-goals, you can foster a better understanding of what’s impeding your progress and growth and become more empowered to confront potential obstacles head-on.

This year, ditch the usual rigid resolutions and embrace these alternative strategies. Trying a new approach may allow you to transcend the limitations you’ve faced in the past and forge a path toward more sustainable progress and greater success.