I saw a recent study (https://www.statista.com/statistics/952321/new-years-resolutions-by-age/) that showed how as people get older, fewer and fewer tend to set New Year’s resolutions. Each decade declines by about 30% as adults age from their 30s to 40s to 50s. 

Perhaps it is because people reach their full potential as they get older. 

Or maybe people become more satisfied with what they have. 

Or maybe their process for defining and achieving something new just hasn’t worked. After years of frustration and lack of results, they decide a New Year’s resolution or goal setting just doesn’t work. 

I tend to think the latter is the biggest reason for declining resolutions as people age. It kind of make sense as Einstein is credited as saying ““Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” 

I have to admit, I haven’t been a big believer in New Year’s resolutions myself in recent memory. But I’m starting to think this is more a process problem. For example, I don’t really remember writing out any goals and why they are important, scheduling time to achieve them, defining what the next small step is for making progress, or periodically checking-in to hold myself accountable (or even better, having an accountability partner).  

Michael Hyatt, in his book and program Your Best Year Ever, talks about developing a process around attaining your goals. He also renames SMART goals as SMARTER (see below), changing Realistic to Risky and adding Exciting and Relevant to the equation. The theory is that realistic and non-exciting goals will be boring and unrealized – definitely and interesting point of view. 

• Specific 

• Measurable 

• Actionable 

• Risky 

• Time-bound 

• Exciting 

• Relevant 

If Michael Hyatt isn’t your cup of tea, you can also check out Khe Hy’s Epic 2022 goal setting and productivity program. Khe also takes SMART to another level, BHAG – Big Hairy Audacious Goals. Again, it is a systems-based formula for attaining goals and new habits.  

Another approach to New Year’s resolution failures flips goal setting upside down. Tim Ferriss’ Past Year Review (https://tim.blog/2021/12/27/past-year-review/) is based on what actually happened in the previous year, taking a reflective approach on what went well and what didn’t. After this review, schedule more of what you enjoyed (prioritize it) and remind yourself of regretful events/actions. Below are the steps for the Past Year Review verbatim from Tim. 

1. Grab a notepad and create two columns: POSITIVE and NEGATIVE. 

2. Go through your calendar from the last year, looking at every week. 

3. For each week, jot down on the pad any people or activities or commitments that triggered peak positive or negative emotions for that month. Put them in their respective columns. 

4. Once you’ve gone through the past year, look at your notepad list and ask, “What 20% of each column produced the most reliable or powerful peaks?” 

5. Based on the answers, take your “positive” leaders and schedule more of them in the new year. Get them on the calendar now! Book things with friends and prepay for activities/events/commitments that you know work. It’s not real until it’s in the calendar. That’s step one.

6. Step two is to take your “negative” leaders, put “NOT-TO-DO LIST” at the top, and put them somewhere you can see them each morning for the first few weeks of 2022. These are the people and things you *know* make you miserable, so don’t put them on your calendar out of obligation, guilt, FOMO, or other nonsense. 

So how do these goal and review exercises relate to retirement planning? In so many ways! 

There is a saying that goes, “show me your calendar and checkbook and I’ll show you what is important”. Do someone’s actions reconcile with what they say is important? If not, let’s become aware of it and start to change the trajectory. Sounds a lot like the Tim Ferriss approach, doesn’t it? 

I don’t advocate the process of line-item budgeting unless you need it or are up for a challenge. However, awareness spending is an easier way to align your spending and values over time. Below is an example of how it might work.  

1. Write down on a piece of paper what is truly important and valuable to you – pick 3-5 things. 

2. Download a spending app like Simplifi OR add spending notifications over $1 on each of your accounts to see what you spend. 

3. Each week, review those 3-5 super important ideas, goals, values 

4. Whenever you spend money, look at the receipt and say “huh, isn’t that interesting” and put it away. 

5. On a daily or weekly basis, review your spending app or notifications and reflect if what you’re spending is in alignment with your top 3-5 ideas, goals, values. 

6. Over time, your spending patterns might change and your money and your values/ideas/goals should be better aligned. 

If you want more details on awareness spending or a month-long program like the one above, you can check out The Spending Practice by Behavior Gap.  

There you have it – not just three, but four, different behavioral approaches for setting, prioritizing, and making progress with your goals.  

The key with any new program is to not get discouraged. Old behaviors can be difficult to change. Try any one or all of these methods and see what sticks for you. Most importantly, cut yourself some slack, find an accountability group, and celebrate your incremental progress over time.  

And remember... “Perfection is the enemy of progress.” – Winston Churchill