They all sit at the dinner table having just finished their extravagant New Year’s Eve spread. They clutch their full bellies eyeing the last morsels on their plate wondering if they can eat one more bite. Without the impediment of food blocking their mouths, conversation soon brews around the table. It starts off simple enough. How’s work? School? Life? The conversation soon grows stale and the inevitable question soon arrives. What’s your New Year’s resolution? One person perks up in his seat excited to share his awe-inspiring idea. Unfortunately, the circle of answers starts to his right and leaves him as the last to answer. Some have well-thought out ideas with full blown plans, others say whatever pops into their head. The moment of truth arrives and he stands up and says, “My resolution is to be a better person”. A golden light shines down on him and confetti bursts down from the ceiling as he waits for the applause. Instead he is met with a question, “Well, how are you going to do that?”

Often, people are quick to make resolutions like this because they are quick and concise. The problem with them is they are too general. When goals are too general, it’s hard to truly set out and accomplish them. Also, they don’t look at a specific time period, they simply set out to do it. I don’t know about most people, but if I don’t have a deadline it’s hard to get started. The best way to do it is set small, specific goals that have some sort of time period attached. A person may say, “I’m going to exercise more” as their New Year’s resolution. Instead, they should say something like, “I’m going to run five miles a week for a month.” This is a clear goal to an end where they can say they met their goal or they didn’t. If they meet their goal, it might allow them to continue with their goal, or if they don’t want to continue, at least they gained the experience and a sense of accomplishment. But what if they fail?

Failure is never ideal, but it does have a silver lining. No one ever got very far without failure because failure is the stepping stone to success. So much good can come from setting goals. People just need to learn to have more direct goals. Instead of trying to climb an invisible mountain with no top in sight, set your sights on climbing up a few steps at a time.