We are approaching the end of January 2025. Two things typically happen at this time of year. First, hearing the words “Happy New Year!” this late in the year starts to feel irritating and annoying (Larry David would agree with me). Second, this is the time when people start to lose steam on their New Year’s resolutions.
Most people need help keeping momentum toward their goals. In fact, setting and breaking New Year’s resolutions is almost a cliché year-to-year. The average New Year’s resolution lasts less than 4 months. One survey conducted by Forbes (2024) with 1,000 U.S. adults shows:
“Just under one in 10 (8%) say their resolutions have lasted a month, 21.9% report two months, 22.2% report three months and 13.1% say their resolutions have lasted four months in the past.”
These statistics raise the question: What can people do to persevere on their goals?
Understanding Common Pitfalls in Goal Setting
Many people make preventable, though understandable, mistakes that reduce the chance of achieving their goals. Psychologists have studied these mistakes for decades. Having an awareness of these common pitfalls can help you set more achievable goals:
- Setting goals that are overly ambitious
- Setting goals that are nonspecific
- Setting too many goals at the same time
- Setting goals that are not measurable
- Setting goals that are irrelevant or unmotivating to you
- Setting goals without having the resources, time, or plan to execute them (e.g., obtaining these things might need to be their own goals)
Using SMART Goals to Improve Your Goal-Setting
To help you create or revise your goals, consider setting SMART goals. The SMART framework is one popular strategy to help you overcome these common pitfalls. SMART stands for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely.
Below, I walk through an example of making a SMART exercise goal:
- Specific: Target a specific area of your life for improvement. For example, instead of setting a goal to “exercise more,” set a goal to “do a specific exercise like running, weight-lifting, or cycling.”
- Measurable: Quantify or define an indicator of progress. For example, state how often and how far you want to run. Instead of saying, “I want to run more,” say, “I want to run a distance of 2 miles, 3 times a week.”
- Attainable: Make goals that you believe you can make and are reasonable to obtain. For example, instead of saying, “My goal is to run a marathon,” before you can run 3 miles, set a goal with a more reasonable distance to work up to. Now your long-term goal can be to run a marathon, but the spirit of this recommendation is to not overwhelm yourself when just starting off—this could lead to a feeling of failure and de-motivate you from pursuing your long-term goal.
- Relevant: Make goals that connect to your life. Reflect on tasks that you want to do, that you have to do, or that can improve your overall well-being. In another post, I will talk more about setting values-based goals as a strategy. The gist is to set goals that align with what is meaningful to you. For example, if you want to exercise more in 2025, consider reflecting on why you want to exercise more. Is it because you like exercise? Or because you value your health and aim to do behaviors consistent with that lifestyle? Understanding—and remembering—your purpose will help you persevere when times get difficult.
- Timely: Make goals with a deadline for when you will evaluate progress. For example, set a specific date, time, and goal post for when you will check in on your goal progress. Personally, I like to set weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly goals. However, trial and error what works best for you.
Some Limitations on SMART Goals
Many articles have been written about the utility of SMART goals because the acronym is easy to remember and implement. I am one of these psychologists. I believe the SMART framework is a useful starting point for improving and organizing one’s ambitions. While many psychologists find the framework helpful, some researchers have stated concerns that SMART goals are not optimized.
For instance, Swann and colleagues (2023) have noted that SMART goals ignore some nuance that is found in goal-setting research. For example, research suggests that setting challenging goals is arguably more important than setting attainable goals. Additionally, setting goals that are specific may not be necessary for goal success, as setting nonspecific goals can lead to meaningful goal progress. As a result, one of the risks of setting specific SMART goals is that you might underestimate how much you can achieve. For example, having an open exercise walking goal might lead someone to walk farther than those who set a specific walking goal.
These perspectives are valuable and raise the bar for future research on goal-setting. Still, from a practical standpoint, I find the SMART framework is highly useable, teachable, and scalable, and is a good starting place for people interested in setting better goals.
The Takeaway: Set SMART and Challenging Goals
SMART goals can be a helpful framework to increase the chance for goal success—as a therapist, I find many patients enjoy its structure and ease of use. However, some researchers note that the SMART framework can be improved to emphasize the utility of open goals and challenging goals.
So, if you want to make even SMARTER goals, set SMART goals that are not too specific and that challenge you. In other words, try to tweak the areas of “S” (specific) and “A” (attainable) in the SMART framework. Make goals with elements of being specific and open. For example, instead of saying, “I’ll run 2 miles, 3 times a week,” add a lower and upper boundary by saying, “I’ll run 2 to 3 miles, 3 to 5 times a week.” See the subtle, but important difference? Additionally, make goals that are attainable and challenging. Try to strike a balance of setting goals that are realistic with where you are at and that will keep pushing you to where you want to go.
These are some general tips for increasing goal progress. However, please note that there is no one-size-fits-all approach for goal-setting. Everyone has different abilities, interests, resources, and personalities that can affect goal-setting success. Find what works for you and stick with it.