It’s January – the time when everyone thinks they need to make a New Year’s resolution – and I have a question for you.

Why do humans subject themselves to big goals they know they won’t – or can’t – follow through with? Or ones that are so complicated, they just give up?

It’s like they set themselves up for failure.

It would be like me saying “During 2026, I won’t pee on the rug.”

You know I’m going to fail. I’m eighteen years old and sometimes I pee in my sleep. And I might be sleeping on the rug. So how can I possibly keep that resolution?

But, if I said, “During 2026, I won’t pee in my mom’s sneakers,” I’ve got a much better chance of success. After all, I peed in one of her shoes last night (you should have heard her scream this morning!). What are the chances that I can hit that sneaker perfectly again in the next twelve months?

Exactly.

You need to make little goals you can achieve. Then, when you accomplish them, you’ll feel good about yourself and your confidence will go up. And then you can tackle a slightly bigger goal.

People also make it waaaay to hard to carry out – or even start – their goals.

Let me explain.

My mom decided she was going to start going to the gym to exercise. My dad was excited to hear that; he was getting tired of listening to her complain about how tight her jeans were.

So, here’s a bit of the conversation they had this morning.

“Do you want to get working on your New Year’s resolution and go to the gym with me?”

“Now why would I want to do that?”

My dad thought for a minute, in case that was a trick question. “You said you wanted to start going to the gym. So . . . do you want to go to the gym?”

“Not on January 10^th.”

My dad scratched his head. “What’s wrong with January 10^th? It’s still the first full week of January.”

My mom rolled her eyes. “That’s exactly the problem. It’s the beginning of January. Do you know how many people will be there because they made resolutions? And the regular gym-rats will look at all the newbies and just wait for them to miss a day, then two, then three, then POOF! Resolution broken.”

“Okay. Does that mean you’ve resolved to break your resolution?”

“I didn’t say that. I’m going to wait until the New Year’s crowd falls by the wayside and resolution time has passed. Then I’ll go. Like mid-February. And it won’t be so crowded.”

My mom paused for a second, then added, “Besides, I need to lose ten pounds before I let people there see me. And I need new sneakers. I can’t go to the gym in those ratty old shoes of mine.”

“So, if you get sneakers, you’ll go sooner?”

My dad waited while my mom considered what he said. “Maybe. If I lose the weight.”

“That makes no sense.”

“You know, you were going to stop at Aldi and get a few things. The Kohls is right next door. You can run in there and pick up the sneakers for me, I’ll tell you which ones they are. And there’s a cute little exercise outfit on sale too. I’ll give you my Kohls card and you’ll save 25%.”

“I’m not going to Kohls to shop for ladies’ exercise outfits. I’m stopping at Aldi for beans and kale, and then heading home.”

“Fine. I’ll just wash out the sneaker Polly peed in. Maybe it’ll dry by the end of the month. Oh, and while you’re at Aldi you can get me a bag of Cheetos.”

See what I mean? She made it too hard to even get her goal off the ground.

So what does this mean for you?

Remember the KISS principle. Keep it Simple and Small, and you’ll be off to a good year.

Just leave the Cheetos off your grocery list and out of your shopping cart. Trust me on that one.