It is almost inevitable at this time of year that our attention falls to New Year's Resolutions and goal setting. You probably have set a New Year's Resolution yourself. Perhaps it was the same one as last year. And the year before... And so on. 

That is not to say that New Year's Resolutions don't have value. In my view, the beginning of a new year is absolutely a great time to think about dreams and goals and to put in place the plans and behavioural intentions that will assist you to make them a reality. To reflect on where you have been, where you are, and where you want to go. 

This is because we measure our life by years, so it makes sense to engage in reflection at this time. Also, there is something to the public declaratory nature of New Year's Resolutions that can be helpful.

However, New Year's Resolutions, at least the way they are commonly set, often simply don't work.

The reality is that goals are hard to achieve and habits are hard to change. 

 So what to do?

If you have set a New Year's Resolution, I encourage you to first reflect on why you set it, or why you felt it necessary to set it. You might want to consider the following: 

• Does the resolution you have set relate to something that is important to you? 
• If you achieved it, would it bring you closer to your dreams or best life? 
• What kind of person would you be if you achieved it?

 If the goal is not important to you, don't set it. Indeed it is totally ok not to have big goals. Perhaps instead you actually want to subtract things from your life. 

Engaging in values exploration exercises can also be helpful because once you have clarity about what is important to you it is much easier to set goals that are in alignment with those values. 

Consider where the desire to set the goal is coming from - if it is not important, or you are setting it out of a sense of expectation or peer pressure, you are very unlikely to achieve it.