Set SMART Goals Instead

January 6, 2026.  By Todd Paetznick

Welcome to 2026!!  Making resolutions is a good idea for the new year.  In the process, we recognize that something in our lives needs to improve.  Yet, based on history, not even 10% of us stick to our resolutions for even a month!  Most of us give up and abandon our resolutions before January is even over.   Why don’t our resolutions stick?  And what should we do instead?  The remedy is helpful for our personal lives and also our business.

Recognize that most resolutions are aspirational, something we want to happen.  The most common New Year’s resolutions involve eating better and exercising more. They also include losing weight, managing finances better, and spending more time with family and friends.  These are all great goals to achieve, but we secretly want our resolutions to happen with minimal to no effort.  Missing from most of our resolutions is how we will achieve them.  Joining a gym is a good first step toward hitting our fitness and weight-loss resolution.  Joining doesn’t produce the desired result; however, we have to go to the gym and work out regularly.  By itself, a gym membership is not enough to deliver the results we desire.

A tried-and-true method for achieving goals and resolutions is to make them SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.  Specific, detailing what the result will be and why it is important to us.  Measurable, defining metrics and milestones to be met along the way to achieving the goal.  Achievable, set a realistic goal. Ensure it can be met within the time frame, such as one year for our New Year’s resolutions.  Relevant, the achievement of the goal matters and fits into our longer-term objectives.  Time-bound, setting a time for the accomplishment’s completion, and also the more near-term goals along the way.  

Whether setting goals for our personal lives or our business, one year is too long to accomplish a goal. We need to define intermediate steps. This way, we can see measured progress along the way.  Joining a gym is a good first step, but our minds work on timeframes shorter than a year.  Three months at a time, a month at a time, and even a week at a time.  Items included on a weekly to-do list are much more difficult to ignore and defer than longer-term items.  Scheduling time every week to go to the gym is a good practice toward achieving our health goals.  

New Year’s resolutions and business goal-setting share the need to be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.  Happy New Year!  May you achieve all your resolutions!!  

Todd Paetznick is a Business Coach who helps small- and medium-sized organizations flourish.  He is an implementer of the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), a business optimization framework that has helped thousands of organizations achieve new success and long-term sustained growth.  His company, Invert Business Coaching, helps people and their organizations reach their full potential.  Todd is also in leadership with CBMC, the Christian Business Men’s Connection, where he manages the Trusted Advisor Forums (TAF) for the metro Atlanta area.