As the calendar flips to January 1st, many leaders succumb to the irresistible urge to start making New Year’s resolutions. The tradition of leaving the past behind and embarking on the new year with a fresh slate is deeply ingrained in our culture. Although we set out with noble intentions to improve ourselves, we inevitably lose our momentum and end up right back where we started by the third week in January.
This annual pattern is a foregone conclusion in my personal experience, but it is also based on my professional experience as an operations director for large health and wellness companies. The wellness world braces for an onslaught of resolution-makers that fill fitness facilities every January, only to watch crowds return to baseline levels by the time February rolls around. We start January with such high hopes, only to fail ourselves time and again. There’s either a problem with us or with the whole process of setting resolutions on the first of the year. I’m going with the latter.
In this lesson, we dive into why leaders should rethink resolutions in January, and explore alternative strategies that lead to more effective goal-setting.
The January 1st Illusion
One common misconception of New Year’s resolution makers is the belief that January 1st is the best time to set new goals. It’s the date when the Western world collectively agrees to close the books on the previous year, and the clock starts ticking on our expectations for the year to come. However, this timing can be less than ideal for leaders responsible for nurturing positive outcomes. Why?
We’re still tired. The transition back to work for those lucky enough to enjoy a holiday break can be quite jarring. We often don’t realize how badly we need a break until we take it, only to find it’s an insufficient amount of time to restore. The flurry of end-of-year tasks and celebrations can be quite depleting in their own right, saying nothing of recovering from New Year’s Eve festivities – a process that can take days if you’re over 40 like me. The truth is, many of us come back from time off more exhausted and less motivated than we were before we left. By the early days of January, leaders may find themselves lacking the energy and headspace required for meaningful goal-setting.
We get sucked into the hype. With everyone around us setting unrealistic expectations for the year to come, it’s easy to overestimate what’s possible in the short term. Riding the wave of resolutions and vision boards along with everyone else can cause leaders to fall into the trap of setting ambitious goals without fully thinking through the challenges they’ll encounter along the way. Too many of us succumb to subtle encouragement to make resolutions by making wishes, instead of thinking about possibilities.
We aren’t motivated. If you live in most of the northern hemisphere, January is a cold, dark, and punishing month that leaves most of us wanting to hibernate along with the other mammals. While New Year’s Day can bring a breath of fresh resolve to turn a new leaf and get things done, it’s very difficult to maintain in a month mother nature designed for rest and introspection. For most of us, motivation levels are at one of the lowest points of the year in the month of January, making it challenging for leaders and employees alike to summon strong energy toward goal achievement.
We haven’t had time to reflect. While we all experience pressure to start the new year with clear goals and a cohesive plan, many leaders haven’t had sufficient time to reflect on the previous year before being asked to declare intended outcomes for the year ahead. We set expectations for the coming year before last year’s books are closed and deny ourselves a valuable opportunity to take a reflective approach. We miss the chance to inspire meaningful insight about what worked in the previous year before we start to think about what’s possible in the year to come.
Alternative Goal-Setting Strategies for Leaders
So, my fearless leaders, what’s the alternative? If we collectively agree that January is an altogether terrible choice for resolution-making and goal-setting, how can we embrace alternative strategies that capitalize on the natural rhythm of our professional lives?
1. Take some time to reflect
Before diving into goal setting, leaders need some time to reflect on the previous year’s achievements, challenges, and outcomes. By asking themselves what worked better than expected, exploring unintended consequences, and being honest about the encountered barriers to goal achievement, leaders place themselves in the best position to gain valuable insights that serve as a solid foundation for goal setting. At the end of the day, reflection is essential for any leader seeking to establish goals based on the wisdom gained from lessons learned. Give yourself some time to think carefully about the previous year before making plans for a new one.
2. Ride the wave
It doesn’t take an advanced degree in human psychology to know there are times of the year when we experience a collective motivation to get things done. Instead of waiting for a ball drop in the freezing cold to signal it’s time to set some goals, consider allowing the spring and autumnal equinoxes to be your guide. We feel the urge to dust things off and get things done in the spring when the weather turns warm. If we turn to Mother Nature for some advice, Spring is all about rebirth and renewal. Sounds to me like a much better time to set some goals. And we feel motivated again in the Fall when the smell of sharpened pencils reminds us that it’s time to buckle down after a summer of leisure and enjoyment. The smart time for a leader to embark on the goal-setting process is when enthusiasm is high and energy levels are at their peak, not when they are at their lowest.
3. Break it down
As long as we’re harnessing motivated energy, consider focusing on smaller, incremental goals when enthusiasm is low and elevating expectations when we’re at a time of peak energy. Maybe the Winter and Summer months are a time for a slow build toward big goals whereas the Fall and Spring months are a time to get focused and push for big outcomes. Think consciously about capitalizing on our natural shifts in energetic momentum to encourage long-term dedication toward successful outcomes.
4. Effective goal setting isn’t a once-a-year thing
We’ve all had the experience of setting a goal, only to soon realize we set the bar too high, too low, or entirely in the wrong direction. Successful leaders give their teams a chance to use data and insight to adjust expectations and establish new benchmarks for success. Instead of setting goals once a year and memorializing them in stone, consider a regular process of reflection, feedback solicitation, and adaptation based on changing conditions. Give your team the authority to shift goals in a new direction and challenge them to establish multiple paths to success. Meet to discuss goals regularly and give yourselves permission to pivot based on new information.
5. Don’t be afraid of lofty goals
The worthiest goals are often those that have no official achievement metric. Do we ever officially become the best leaders we can be? Do we ever declare our company or team mission complete? Of course not. The most inspirational goals are on a horizon line we never fully reach, yet we insist on tying all goals to KPIs and wonder why our teams often lack motivation to achieve. Set meaningful goals about what we want our companies to become and separate those goals from the specific and performance-driven strategies you deploy to deliver on the company mission. Empower your team to set, evaluate, and adjust strategic plans on a semi-annual or quarterly basis and resist the urge to tie goals to a 365-day finish line.
If you are one of the lucky few who regularly embrace the opportunity to chart a path toward personal betterment once the calendar changes and actually succeeds, kudos to you! We may or may not be a little jealous of your superhuman resolve to battle the urge to hibernate all winter. But if you’re like the rest of us, you know the whole exercise of setting New Year’s resolutions is just an exercise in continued commitment to a losing strategy. Let’s wake up from the hypnosis that tells us goal setting comes along with the new year and think about what it takes to become a leader who doubles down on what actually works.
Timing matters. Period. So consider this your permission to engage in an unorthodox approach to goal setting where leaders choose their goal-setting timing wisely. When it comes down to it, the best leaders reflect, learn, adapt, and find the courage to buck the traditional approach to meet the needs of their teams and organizations. Think about goal setting from this new perspective and let yourself off the hook for having it all figured out by the first of the year. Be a leader who prioritizes effectiveness of conformity and see what wonderful things can happen when we embrace a meaningful, purpose-driven approach to setting goals that stick.
Danielle Terranova is the voice behind Leadership Lessons with Danielle.
She has been an executive coach since 2015 and owner of Terranova Consulting, LLC since 2019.