A wellbeing expert from UNSW Sydney shares tips for creating meaningful and achievable goals.
The second Friday in January, coined 'quitter's day' by data analysts studying fitness app usage patterns, marks the point when many people abandon their New Year's resolutions.
While setting goals is an annual tradition for many, sticking to them often proves challenging. For those aiming to build new habits or achieve personal milestones in the new year, navigating the wealth of advice out there can feel overwhelming.
Researchers have long studied the intricacies and process of setting goals, highlighting the importance of making them specific, attainable, relevant and time-bound.
Associate Professor Justine Gatt, from UNSW's School of Psychology and Neuroscience Research Australia leads a research program that focuses on understanding the neuroscience of wellbeing and resilience to stress and trauma. She says wellbeing and resilience can be promoted via various intervention techniques.
"It's important to break goals or resolutions into smaller, manageable steps, and to explore how resolutions intersect with habits, wellbeing and self-compassion.
"There are things you can do to make new habits stick – but it comes down to making sure the goals are meaningful to you in the first place."
Breaking things down
Setting clear, well-defined goals provides focus, motivation, and direction. By breaking aspirations into smaller tasks, you can track progress and celebrate incremental achievements. However, the first step is often identifying which aspects of your life you want to improve.
"Before you even think about a framework for setting your goals, consider what areas of your life need attention," A/Prof. Gatt advises. "It's about wellbeing. Ask yourself, 'What parts of my life am I not happy with?'"
A/Prof. Gatt's team developed the COMPAS-W scale for assessing wellbeing. According to their research, individuals generally fall into three categories: languishing, moderate, or flourishing. Most people – about 60% – fall into the moderate group. While confronting areas of dissatisfaction may feel uncomfortable, it's a crucial step toward meaningful change.
"You can't address everything at once, so it's best to be targeted when setting goals," she explains.
Prioritising your goals
To focus your efforts, A/Prof. Gatt suggests considering frameworks like Maslow's hierarchy of needs.
Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a framework developed by Abraham Maslow that maps different motivations onto a pyramid, with each level representing a different human need.
"The theory suggests that these needs must generally be fulfilled in order, starting with the most basic, such as food, water and sleep. And once those are addressed, you can move upwards, to more complex ones, from relationships, to self-confidence."
The framework remains influential in understanding human motivation in psychology. However, it isn't fixed, and it's acknowledged that higher needs might influence behavior, even if lower ones aren't fully satisfied.
Have SMART Goals
Studies have shown that intention to change behavior alone does not often result in actual behavior change, a phenomenon known as the 'intention-behavior gap'.
Once you identify what you want to work on, several strategies can provide a solid foundation for effective goal setting and help create plans of action.
A/Prof. Gatt recommends the SMART framework, a structured approach that ensures resolutions are both well-defined and achievable.
Specific – Clearly define the goal. It should answer the 5 W's: Who, What, When, Where, and Why. Specificity eliminates ambiguity and provides a clear target.
Measurable – How are you going to track your goal? A deadline, a number or relative improvement by per cent? Set criteria to track your progress, such as deadlines or quantifiable targets.
Achievable – While it's great to be ambitious about your goals, they also need to be realistic, to not set yourself up for failure.
Relevant – Your goals should align with your personal interests, priorities, and values. Relevance keeps you invested and motivated because the goal matters to you.
Time-bound – A goal without a deadline makes it difficult to identify success or failure.
A/Prof. Gatt highlights the need for goals to be achievable. "You might think, 'I'm going to join a gym'. But is it achievable to do seven sessions a week if your current baseline is zero?," she says. "Perhaps to start, what is more achievable is to do at least do one session a week that can fit in your existing commitments and calendar."
Habits that stick
Setting a goal is one thing, sticking to it is another.
"Once you've set your goals and decided what you want to work towards, the hard part really begins," says A/Prof. Gatt. "At this stage it's useful to think about some of the strategies that can help you implement these new habits, that will help you reach your goal or resolution."
As A/Prof. Gatt highlights, new habits take time to form and you may not see the benefits for a while. "The results of a new habit won't be immediate," she says. "There may be an element of immediate reward, but the long-term benefits take time.
"For example, my research has shown that when you give people different activities to practice self-compassion and acts of kindness, you don't actually see the effects on the person's wellbeing until about 4-6 weeks of them doing it."
Not seeing or feeling a change may put people off from maintaining new habits. However, there are lots of psychological tips around habit change.
Research has consistently shown that if you repeat an action in the same context often enough, it becomes automatic through associative learning. For example, getting into a car and doing up your seatbelt. The psychology of associative learning has been applied to creating new habits.
"One tip that I would recommend is habit stacking," says A/Prof. Gatt. "The idea is that you think of something that you already do all the time, like having a cup of tea in the morning, and then you stack on a new habit to an existing habit, it helps with remembering to implement the new habit in your everyday routine and sticking to it."
Another tip for ensuring your goals are maintained is holding yourself accountable, or having someone else keeping you accountable. "If someone is relying on you, you're much more likely to stick to a goal," says A/Prof. Gatt. "If you can create a social group, or if you feel comfortable telling other people about your goals, it can definitely help."
A study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology found that people are more committed to their goal when they tell someone whose opinion they care about.
Taking time to reflect
Adjusting your goals is a natural part of the process. "It's important to know your limits," says A/Prof. Gatt. "If something isn't working, reflect on the barriers and adapt your approach."
Self-compassion is key. "Talk to yourself as you would a friend facing the same situation," she says. "This is a good opportunity to learn, identify barriers as to why you're finding it difficult to implement a new habit, and make adjustments."
Setting and maintaining goals can be challenging, but by focusing on meaningful objectives, using frameworks like SMART, and employing strategies to build consistency, you can increase your chances of success.
"Remember, self-compassion and flexibility are essential – they'll keep you motivated and resilient as you work toward your aspirations," A/Prof. Gatt says.
