A Comprehensive Guide to Successful Goal Setting

The new year stands before us, like a chapter in a book, waiting to be written. We can help write that story by setting goals.
––Melody Beattie

According to research, fitness goals are some of the most popular New Year’s resolutions.
 
However, most “New Year’s resolutioners” are unsuccessful.
 
When I was working as a personal trainer in a commercial gym, I witnessed the same cycle every year. Come January 1st, the gym would be flooded with new members. By March, most of them would disappear, never to return… until the following January.
 
So, if you’ve ever set fitness resolutions that didn’t stick, you’re not the only one.
 
Of the few studies conducted on this topic, most seem to show that the majority of participants abandon their resolutions after a few months.
 
For example, in 1985, a study by Norcross and colleagues reported that 77% out of 200 participants stuck to their resolutions for a week, but only 40% were still keeping up with them after six months.
 
If you’re thinking that a 60% failure rate after six months sounds pretty grim, that’s not all.
 
In reality, if you’re volunteering for a study measuring the success rate of New Year’s resolutions, you’re likely more motivated to achieve your goals than the average person.
 
Moreover, after the participants set their resolutions on an initial phone call with the New Year’s Resolution Project staff, they received seven follow-up phone interviews for the next two years.
 
If you know someone’s going to check on your progress every few months, you’ll probably take your resolutions far more seriously than if you were left to your own devices.
 
So, in real life, New Year’s resolutions likely fail even more often than in research.
 
However, since you’re reading this blog post, you are more motivated than the average person. By applying the four steps covered in the article, you’ll have better-than-average odds of succeeding, too.
 
You’ve come to the right website.
 
Let’s start your year with a bang.

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