Predictions, Resolutions, and Goals: How are They Different?
Your Blueprint for an Exceptional Year Ahead
As we prepare for 2024, the Waterford Crystal Ball on Times Square is getting closer to its once-yearly descent. I’m always mesmerized by the flashing lights and the awe of watching its one-minute journey that signals the beginning of a new year. Reflections on what the future holds – through predictions, New Year's resolutions, and goal-setting precede the end of one year and pepper the beginning of the next. How are predictions, resolutions, and goals different? What sets them apart?
Understanding the nuances of each of these can be transformative in harnessing the new year's opportunities.
Let’s look at predictions, resolutions, and goal-setting. I’ll also share a strategy to help make this year your best.
Predictions: Anticipating the Future
Predictions are like guideposts for the future, offering insights and forecasts based on current trends, historical data, and expert analysis. Using your judgment and current situation is essential for figuring out how to use predictions. There are always predictions, but this time of year, the news and social media are full of them.
Characteristics of Predictions
Insight-Based: Predictions focus more on likely scenarios than personal desires or intentions. They are either grounded in data or opinion and reflect the insight of the person offering the predictions.
Outside Our Control: The future is often a mystery that unfolds in its own rhythm, making the outcomes of predictions something we prepare for rather than control.
Expert Opinion: These insights often stem from experts in various fields, such as economists predicting market trends or climatologists forecasting environmental changes. Politicians and political pundits make predictions, as do talk show hosts and podcasters. Consider your sources and discern what you take away from predictions you read or hear.
Practical Tips to Stay Realistic about Predictions
Stay Informed and Adaptable: By keeping abreast of current trends and expert insights, you can adapt your approach to business, personal finance, politics, or personal growth. The goal is to be flexible when changing circumstances either support a prediction or you need to adapt your thinking and behaviors to a prediction that does come true.
Scenario Planning: Consider that predictions can be tools for your planning. You may want to prepare for various potential futures based on your level of interest or how a particular prediction could affect you.
Healthy Skepticism: While predictions aim to provide guidance, they shouldn’t be accepted without conducting research. Be cautious about predictions made from superstition or lack of knowledge. Remember that all predictions contain inherent uncertainty; some are made to sow seeds of doubt and fear. Consider this when you listen to 2024 predictions and trust your intuition.
New Year's Eve Resolutions: Intentions for Personal Growth
These are personal commitments usually made in late December and early January and symbolize a desire for change or improvement in one's life. Often, resolutions involve working out, changing diets, quitting smoking, or spending more time with family. We make resolutions because we want a better life in the new year.
Common Characteristics of Resolutions
Personal Commitment: Resolutions are intimate promises we make to ourselves, reflecting our deepest desires for personal growth and a better life.
Specificity: They can be as broad as aspiring for overall happiness or as specific as setting a target for physical fitness or intellectual growth.
Lack of Planning: Resolutions are best achieved with an actionable plan. Not documenting how you will achieve your resolution is a path toward quiet abandonment. Sure, you joined the gym, but are you committed to fit it into your busy schedule, or is it wishful thinking?
Practical Tips
Realistic and Attainable Goals: Set challenging yet achievable resolutions, avoiding setting yourself up for disappointment. If you are highly optimistic, a positive thinker, and a big-picture visionary, you could benefit from bouncing your resolutions off someone you trust to make sure they are realistic.
Actionable Steps: Break each resolution into smaller, manageable tasks to create a clear path toward achievement.
Community and Accountability: Share your journey with friends or online communities for support and accountability, which makes it more enjoyable and sustainable.
Most people don’t build in tracking or accountability for their resolutions. Somehow, we magically hope they will happen. If you’ve belonged to a health club, you know by the middle of February that attendance slows down when people tire of the routine.
Resolutions and goals seem similar. They are in that we state something we want. Most of the time, the similarity ends there.
Please look at the Goal-Setting section below if you typically lose steam for resolutions vital to your happiness by February or March. Specific goal-setting and accountability can support you.
Goal-Setting: The Roadmap to Success
Goal-setting is a land mine of disappointment if you don’t know how to set them effectively and build in accountability to reach them. Goal-setting involves big-picture goals and the specifics you need to do to achieve those goals.
Common Characteristics of Goal-Setting
Action-Oriented: Goals are the building blocks of achievement, requiring proactive steps and continuous effort. Reaching goals results from taking specific actions you’ve decided are essential.
Measurable Milestones: They provide a clear roadmap with checkpoints, allowing for tracking progress and celebrating achievements. Setting dates to accomplish tasks related to your goals keeps you on track.
Flexibility and Commitment: Reaching your goals works well when you make spoken and written commitments. Stay in tune with changing circumstances and be realistic about adapting your plan if needed. It’s ok to change your plan. Avoiding changing your goals and timelines when life and business say otherwise is ineffective. Adapt your goals to what you can achieve. What you thought you could do at the beginning of the year may change. But don’t change it because you lose heart or get discouraged. Reach out for support.
Practical Tips
Use the SMART Framework: Goals should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. This is a standard method used to define goals and stay on track. The problem is that many people aren’t experienced in knowing how to write a specific goal that’s measurable and realistic. That’s where I can help you. You will increase your chances of reaching your goal when you write SMART goals.
Consistent Review and Adjustment: Once a month, review your progress and adjust your strategies as needed. Things happen, and this helps you be realistic in your efforts to reach your goals.
Reward Progress: Recognize and celebrate every milestone, no matter how small, to maintain motivation and momentum. Most of us forget this step or neglect it so we can move on to what’s next. I’ve done that. The benefit of rewarding your progress is acknowledging what works so you can repeat it.
Use a Habit Tracker app: I downloaded WordKeeper to track my writing. I’ve noticed that I am more engaged in writing for Substack because Substack sends me a weekly message telling me how many weeks in a row I’ve published. In case you’re curious, this is Week 20. You can search “Habit Tracker Apps” to find one that meets your purpose.
Here is a goal-setting worksheet I’ve used in my leadership retreats. You can use it to set up your overall objective for 2024 and then set specific goals. Once you’ve narrowed your goals, you can use the SMART format to capture the details.
The Power of Accountability
Accountability is “an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions,” according to the Webster’s Dictionary app on my phone. Your ability to reach your goals increases exponentially when you work 1-1 with a coach who will support you in being accountable or when you participate in an accountability group, such as a mastermind or group with the same goals. What are the benefits of working 1-1 with a coach like me?
In the journey toward achieving your goals, accountability plays a pivotal role. People who go it alone can drift away from their goals and inspirations. People with ADHD or easily distracted may have difficulty choosing and focusing on their goals. Self-motivation is essential, and a coach is an important addition to your team. Here’s how a coach can be supportive in this process:
1. Expert Guidance and Insight:
A coach brings a wealth of expertise and experience. One of my strengths is inquiry. I ask insightful questions to help you get clear on what you want. I aim to coach clients to make decisions rather than telling them what to do. You are more committed to taking action when you decide and make commitments without being given the answers. I’ve worked with individuals for over twenty years on their journey to accomplish what they desire. Typical results include promotions, making more money, growing their business, improved relationships, better health, and more.
2. Objective Perspective and Feedback:
As a coach, I offer an external, objective perspective that is often hard to achieve independently. A coach should provide honest, constructive feedback, helping you see your progress and areas for improvement. Discussing your progress and challenges with someone can significantly increase your commitment to your goals. This objective viewpoint is essential for personal and professional growth, as it helps identify blind spots and areas where you can develop further.
3. Structured Planning and Goal-Setting:
Coaches excel in helping you set achievable, realistic goals. One of my best abilities as a coach is to guide you to clarity on what you want. I work with you to break down your goals into manageable steps, creating a structured plan with clear milestones. This approach makes the journey towards your goals more manageable and actionable.
Please feel free to schedule a session with me to clarify your goals for 2024. If you’ve never worked with a coach, it’s a great first step to discover what’s next for you and have the clarity to go forward.
Schedule a goal-setting session with Kathy
4. Personalized Support and Adaptability:
Every individual’s journey is different, and as a coach, I understand and respect this. A coach should provide personalized support that adapts to your changing needs and circumstances. Whether it’s altering goals, adjusting strategies, or overcoming new challenges, a coach guides and supports you every step of the way.
In summary, a coach is a partner in achieving your goals. Whether in personal development, career advancement, or any other area of life, having a coach can be a catalyst for profound growth and achievement.
I have set up a special 30-minute coaching session titled “2024 Goal-Setting Session” designed to support you in setting clear, concise, achievable goals for 2024. When you schedule this session:
You’ll receive a handout to prepare for our time over Zoom.
You’ll take your ideas for 2024 and hone at least one of them into a realistic, actionable goal.
I’ll ask questions to support you in deciding what’s best to pursue based on your talents and interests.
You’ll end our session motivated by realistic goals.
You can schedule two goal-setting sessions at this price.
A summary: Understanding the Differences between Predictions, Resolutions, and Goals
Predictions serve as a compass, and provide a general direction based on current trends and expert insights. They are more about foresight than direct action.
Resolutions are akin to wishes – personal aspirations often lacking concrete plans for achievement.
Goals are the blueprint for success – well-defined plans with clear steps and measurable milestones.
As you launch your journey into 2024, remember that predictions can inform and prepare you, resolutions can inspire and motivate you, and goals can guide and drive you toward success.
Give yourself an exponential chance of reaching your goals by working with a coach, joining an accountability group, or starting with an app designed to help you track progress.
Share your thoughts on goal-setting in the comments below. Let’s make this year our best yet!