Setting goals and resolutions is common among people looking forward to some achievement and success in life. When it comes to answering the question, what is the difference between a goal and a resolution? It will be fine to discuss the subtle differences between these two terms. A resolution is a pledge that people make to their selves while a goal is a specific result to achieve.
Introduction
People set goals and new year’s resolutions to get the desired outcome from their working routine and to achieve effective change in their lives. Most people consider goal setting and resolutions are interchangeable terms, but, hold on it’s a myth. So, what is the difference between a goal and a resolution?
Let me clarify the difference between goals and resolutions here.
The Differences Between Goals and Resolutions
Resolutions are personal promising statements for well-defined growth expectations, like “I have to lose weight and eat healthier this year” or it can be “I have to avoid wasting money on ineffective products this year”.
On the other hand, goals are your desired outcomes that you are hoping to attain in a specific time. In simple words, goals are the building blocks of your resolutions. Goals are both short-term and long-term to achieve an outcome by following specific steps.
For example, if you are looking forward to losing weight (a resolution), you have to go through a proper procedure of being healthier and spending more time in physical activities. The steps to achieve your desired outcome are the goals you will set in terms of both short-term and long-term goals.
To understand the subtle differences between setting goals and resolutions, I have listed the possible distinctions to ponder.
Nature and Intent
Resolutions build the pressure to be perfect, as they are strict aims for improvement. Due to the inflexible nature of resolutions, most people fail to pursue their yearly resolutions within a short period.
On the contrary, goals ensure a steady stream of accomplishment as it involves a gradual development in the achievement process.
Specificity and Measurability
Goals are always specific and measurable while resolutions are statements or intentions to achieve something that gives rise to a lack of specificity. For example, your new year’s resolution is “increasing your cardio capacity”. But there is no plan and specification of the process of how will you achieve your resolution.
Resolutions can be made specific and measurable by following the SMART formula which is popular in goal-setting as well.
Timeframe and Duration
Goals are always set by considering a time limit, while a resolution is a pledge that lacks time boundness.
Action-Oriented vs. Result-Oriented
Resolutions are result oriented and neglect the action required to get specific results. While goals are based on actions and encourage individuals to achieve through hard work.
Focus and Scope
Goals are always future-focused and set to be more specific while resolutions are big and vague.
Flexibility and Adaptability
Due to firm aims and rigid self-promises, resolutions tend to be unrealistic and mostly fail to achieve the desired outcome. But the flexibility in the goal-plan-action gives motivation and more room to pursue the success process. Goals are frequently abandoned and building blocks of your resolutions.
Long-Term Impact and Sustainability
Precise goals and checking how to adopt the right strategies can be effective for achieving long-term impacts of success and accomplishment. The steady flow and specific steps of goal setting ensure the sustainability of the process.
But vague resolutions create problems rather than providing the outcomes. We often notice people saying their resolution is not working and creating trouble for them.
Psychological and Emotional Factors
Setting and achieving goals is overwhelming for individuals as this strategy provides the active foundation for their life achievements. Due to the visible results, people get the motivation to set more goals to make changes in their life.
On the other hand, vague resolutions tend to depress people and result in low productivity and laziness. Unrealistic and very bad resolutions are hard to stay on that is why 70% of people quit within the first 2-3 weeks of setting their year’s resolution.
Why Set Goals and Resolutions?
Everything you need to work on requires a proper procedure to initiate and end with an outcome. To adopt the right strategies, you must prefer goal setting. Goals are building blocks of resolutions and setting concrete and measurable goals leads you to accomplish success and positive change in your life.
Apart from the subtle differences between ultimate goal setting and resolutions, both are effective in building your mindset and approach to becoming successful in life. Here are the benefits of setting goals and resolutions:
Motivation and Inspiration
Everyone looks forward to ultimate motivation and inspiration to attain the coaching mindset. Your goals and resolutions are something that can facilitate you with the required motivation and inspiration. When you plan to do something, you feel excited to take the first step toward achievement. To maintain this excitement, you need to be motivated every time, and your goals can boost your mindset and productivity.
Direction and Purpose
When you set goals and action plans you get a path to follow for accomplishment. Your goals and resolutions provide you with the purpose and objective of your life. Resolving tends to create good habits and encourage you to perform activities that fall in your success category.
For example, if you are feeling difficulty being consistent in lead generation, you must set daily or weekly measurable goals to distribute your work time. You will feel motivated and purposeful by distributing your daily tasks. Your consistent lead generation efforts will reduce the work pressure and make you more satisfied.
Personal Growth and Development
People set goals for their personal growth and improve their mindset to attain productivity. Goals and yearly resolutions are helpful in personal development as with specific goal making you can target your bad habits. When you get consistent in avoiding your negative habits, you become more positive and productive.
Increased Productivity and Success
By following the specific steps of your goal-plan-action you can boost your productivity and confidence to achieve more. By getting out of your comfort zone you can easily achieve a productive mindset and approach.
Enhanced Well-being and Happiness
It’s a part of human behavior to get overwhelmed by success and achievements. As your goals provide you with the best strategy to achieve life success so, the activities that fall in achievement concerns lead a better well-beingness and happiness.
Common Mistakes People Make When Setting Resolutions and Goals
People make many mistakes during setting new year’s resolutions and personal goals. Only setting goals and resolutions is not a proper approach to achieving success. There are many factors to ponder when you set goals and year resolutions. If you are feeling any challenge to achieve the resolution you established or your life goals, you must rephrase that resolution and very goals by considering the following points.
Setting Unrealistic Expectations
This is one of the potential mistakes made by several people. People set unrealistic goals during the crafting of their resolutions. Being way too ambitious and a perfectionist harms your well-defined growth expectations. For example, if you set the main goal of increasing and managing your finances you cannot handle it within a week rather you have to make some monthly plans and even yearly financial goals to achieve this goal.
Make sure to set not-too-easy and not-too-challenging resolutions. Avoid setting unrealistic plans and prefer setting resolutions that go well with natural human behavior and capability.
Lack of Clarity and Specificity
vague resolutions and goals can affect your productivity by creating burnout and self-sabotage. You can face difficulty in achieving your goals and resolutions if you have not been specified during setting goals and year resolutions.
Always consider the numbers and time deadlines for your goals. Lack of specificity is the biggest enemy of your motivation and productivity. That is why your goals must have specific objectives and time bounded concerns to accomplish the desired outcome.
Failure to Create an Action Plan
When you finish getting decided about goals and have completed the process of setting goals and resolutions, you must create a step-by-step action plan to start the procedure. Avoiding making an action plan is the potential cause of failure. An action plan can include both short-term and long-term goals i.e., weekly goals or 30-day goals.
It depends on how you manage your goals and resolutions by following the specific steps. Creating an effective action plan provides you with a path to complete your progress journey.
Neglecting to Review and Adjust Goals/Resolutions
There come situations when the planned things fail to work potentially. To cope with such challenging situations, you need to take a break for a while and think about what mistake you are making. To identify the mistake, get through your resolution and goals. Review the planner and mark the possible reasons behind the problem.
Tracking the progress is also beneficial to avoid such a challenge. You can use bulletin boards or scoreboards to track your productivity.
Giving Up Too Easily or Lack of Persistence
consistency is the key to staying focused and achieving real change in your life. But to be consistent require effort which is why many people lack consistency and get procrastinated toward surroundings and forget their main purpose. Achieving goals need patients, dedication, and hard work and all these specific things are the result of consistency.
Due to owning an inconsistent nature, people get sick of their goals and resolutions and prefer to quit in the early stages. Giving up too early leads you to be random about your life goals and more likely to make you a rolling stone that will never gather any moss.
Tips for Setting Goals and Resolutions
Grab the following infusion tips and strategies to make your success journey easy and effective.
- Set an approach-oriented resolution and explain its advantages
When setting resolutions and goals acknowledge the purpose of the very resolution and goal and enlist the advantages of the specific goal. Make sure to set realistic, and approach-oriented resolutions to make a difference in your life.
- Focus on the small steps as goals and discuss the benefits
Your resolutions are long-form goals while the short-form goals are the helpers to achieve your resolutions. So, do not compromise on the importance of short-form goals and work with dedication and honesty to achieve the results.
- Highlight the importance of getting clear on the WHY behind goals and resolutions
Recognizing the real purpose of your resolutions is the foundation to get accomplished. Think about why you are going to achieve a specific goal or resolution and be clear about the actual purpose.
- Discuss the significance of measuring progress and tracking results
Discuss your progress with your accounting system and keep going with tracking the results in the future as well. It will help you to identify the improvement fields.
- Emphasize the importance of perseverance and celebrating success
Celebrating success is the source of utmost mind satisfaction and motivation. Celebrate your accomplishments to feel valuable. You may arrange a little party or plan a coffee with friends for this purpose.
- Guide designing a strategy around small, sustainable changes
Do not feel hesitation in finding the misleading points of your plan. Always feel free to make sustainable changes to your action plan.
- Explain the importance of pairing resolutions with a comprehensive goal plan
Pairing your resolutions with a comprehensive goal plan provides you with an effective path to achieving the resolutions.
How to Set Goals and Resolutions for the New Year
Reflecting on the Previous Year
Before setting resolutions or specific goals do not forget to put a reflection on the previous year. Identify the improvement areas and plan accordingly.
Identifying Priorities and Values
Recognize what should be handled at first and arrange the goals according to the preference and importance of the specific task.
Setting SMART Goals and SMART Resolutions
Make sure to follow the SMART formula while making resolutions or setting goals. The SMART formula covers the specification, measurability, attainability, realistic approach, and time boundness.
Breaking Down Goals into Manageable Steps
To achieve long-form goals simplify the process by breaking it into manageable milestones.
Creating a Timeline and Deadlines
Do not leave your goals or resolutions open-ended, rather, ensure the time boundness to get timely results.
Establishing Accountability Measures
Create your accountability system to share your progress or problems. It can be a close friend or mentor.
Seeking Support and Guidance
Don’t hesitate to seek guidance from some experienced person and be open to sharing your problem to find the solution.
Revisiting and Adjusting Goals/Resolutions Regularly
Make sure to review your goals and resolutions after a specific time gap. Doing this will help you to mark the necessary changes in the plan.
Resources for Setting Goals and Resolutions
Online Goal-Setting Tools and Apps
Many apps and goal-setting software are available as online resources and ClickUp, Lifetick, Perdoo, Ally, and Goalscape are some of the recommended goal-setting software that can ease the process of setting goals.
Books and Publications on Goal Setting and Personal Development
If you are an active reader, you can easily find publications and books that cover the topic of goal-setting.
Goal-Setting Workshops and Seminars
You can opt for the option of goal-setting seminars and workshops to be at the forefront of your mind about resolutions and goals.
Professional Coaches and Mentors
There is a huge availability of goal-setting mentors and coaches to help you resolve your problems. Even the goal-setting apps also provide this facility to their users by giving them references of their trustworthy mentors.
Online Communities and Forums for Goal-Setting Discussions
Moreover, you can be a part of online communities that actively discuss the impacts of resolutions and goals settings.
Conclusion
I hope this read has helped you to get the answer to the goal-setting question in the forefront of your mind, the question is about what is the difference between a goal and a resolution. Chose the best fit for you between the goals and resolutions to get the ultimate motivation for success.
FAQ’s
What is the difference between a goal and a New Year resolution?
Resolution usually means making personal promises and commitments to make real changes in life while goals are the specific steps to achieve the resolutions.
What is the distinction between a resolution and a goal?
A goal is something you want to achieve in a specific time and resolution is a commitment to have a change.
What is the difference between a New Year’s resolution and a smart goal?
A new year’s resolution is a long-form goal to achieve while a smart goal is a specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bounded goal. Moreover, smart goals are easy to achieve as compared to the new year’s resolutions.
What is the difference between making a resolution setting an intention and creating a goal?
Resolution is all about promising to have a change and setting an intention is more powerful than resolutions. The crucial step to alleviate the resolutions is goal-setting which helps you achieve your resolution.
