Do you know that as high as 92% who set New Year resolutions fail to achieve them? According to a study conducted by the University of Scranton, only about 8% of students who set a New Year resolution managed to reach their target.
Here’s the hard truth, New Year resolutions and annual goals or yearly goals don’t work.
Yet, most of us fall into the trap of setting yearly goals because it seems like a smart thing to do.
I have been setting yearly goals since many years ago. And to be honest, I failed to achieve most of them.
And guess what, when the New Year hits, I will have to re-set the same goal again. This has crippled my confidence and make me feel extremely difficult to come up with motivation.
Think about all the goals you have set in life. Have you successfully achieved them? Or you are setting the same goals over and over again every year?
Annual goals don’t really work. Especially for personal goals. Why?
Because the results you want are too far into the future. Many things can happen within a year and that will derail you from your original path.
This is why I strongly suggest you set 90-day goals instead of yearly goals.
Here’s why you should set 90-days goals and not yearly goals…
1. Predictability
A 90-day goal has a shorter time frame. It allows you to better predict what will happen.
When you make plans for your goals, it is easier to plan for 90-day than for a year. When things are much more predictable, it means you are better in control.
You know what’s going to happen and you know what you need to do every day to get the results to move the needle for your goals.
On the contrary, many things can happen in a year. For instance, I bet you didn’t predict the circumstances that happened in 2020. And in a blink of an eye, the year 2020 has gone and you have stepped into the new year without much preparation.
Hence, compress your long-term or annual goals into 90-day goals. Make your goals predictable so that your rate of reaching them is higher.
2. Motivation and Momentum
When something is more tangible and nearer to our reach, we tend to have better motivation to work on it.
We all know that savings are important. If you save at age 20 for 30 years, you know it very well that highly likely, you will end up having a million dollars by the time when you retire.
But the problem is that most people fail to stick to the plan. Why?
Because a long-term plan is too unpredictable and won’t motivate you. Seriously, do you want to save for 30 years only to see the results?
No, we all want immediate results. Hence, a 90-day goal gives you more momentum and motivation than an annual goal does.
When your goal is exciting and you turn it into a 90-day goal, it forces you to focus better. Your 90-day will challenge you better because it has a short deadline.
3. Accuracy in Planning
As I keep mentioned above, the shorter the time frame, the easier and more predictable the outcome.
Therefore, when you set 90-day goals, it gives you better accuracy in planning. You can clearly plan out your calendar in 90 days than in a year.
The further away your goal, the more unpredictable it becomes.
This is why most people fail to stick to their plan. Their plans are too far away and have too many unexpected factors that will sabotage their goals.
4. Immediate Feedback and Improvement
Feedback is vital to your success. When your goal is in the short-term, it gives you immediate feedback and so you can pivot and make changes to your plan.
When you set a long-term goal like a 5-year goal, you won’t be able to create immediate results because the target is too far away.
Whereas when your goal has a shorter deadline, and when you take action, it gives you immediate feedback so that you can improve your plan.
You can tell what went wrong and what went right in a much better way when the goal has a shorter deadline.
Just like baking a cake, you get to see the result and taste the cake after an hour of baking. You don’t have to wait for a year only to know how the cake taste.
This is why I strongly suggest you set 90-day goals than yearly goals.
5. Gives You Instant Progress and Wins
As I said, when your goal is in the short-term, it gives you an immediate win. And that is extremely important because your victories and wins will drive you and give you the motivation you need to continue to work toward your goal.
When you set a long-term goal, like a 20-year goal, it is difficult to see yourself making any significant win.
And when you don’t see the result from your hard work, you will quickly feel dejected and lose interest in the goal. This is why most people find it difficult to stick to their goals and keep themselves motivated throughout the journey.
Their goals are too far into the future, and their goals don’t give them enough motivation and momentum to keep them going.
If you want your goals to inspire you, to motivate you, and to give you the5 momentum to keep you moving forward, you need to create quick progress and produce quick wins.
Your wins, victories, and results are important because they are the factors that drive you to continue to work on your goals.
This is why you want to create wins and victories as soon as possible. When you see yourself are winning, you are more likely to work on your goals and continue to create more wins.
Conclusion
Goal setting is powerful. And you want to use it to help you unleash your inner potential to achieve your goals.
This is why it is better to set a 90-day goal than to set a long-term goal like a yearly goal. When the goal has a shorter deadline, it keeps you engaged and motivated.
I’m not saying that you shouldn’t set yearly goals or get rid of all your long-term goals, I’m saying that you should focus more on a short-term goal like a 90-day goal.
If you want to learn more about how to set and achieve your goals, get my free guidebook here.
