New Year, New Goals

Every year, I make a resolution to make no resolutions. And yet, every year as December chugs along toward the holiday, I find myself inadvertently drifting into goal-setting mode. I always do my best to avoid the typical resolutions—goals like saving more or eating healthier become easy to put off for months if you only begin once a year. (And given how often we fail on our first attempt, that usually translates into more time spent anticipating the goal rather than actually working toward achieving it.)

And, the fact is that even without those most common goals, there's still plenty to strive for. By the time the clocks are singing midnight on Jan. 1, I've got my champagne in hand and resolutions firmly planted in mind, usually with some intricate and complicated roadmap to get me from point A to point B.

And I'm in good company!

Some 45 percent of Americans are resolution-setters, according to research from the Journal of Clinical Psychology (December 2016). Only 38 percent say they absolutely never make resolutions at all.

And while 24 percent say they fail and never meet their yearly goals, there's still reasons to make that list, check it twice and then stick to it. The research also concluded that people who explicitly make resolutions are 10 times more likely to succeed than those who don't.

Whether you're actively promoting the idea of goal-setting or not, you're likely a partner—knowingly or not—in someone's resolution plans. Many of the most common resolutions—losing weight, exercising more and so on—are a boon for recreation, sports and fitness facilities that offer ways to help people focus and achieve those goals. And, of course, many of you are probably already in the throes of providing programs that help people do exactly that. But there are plenty of other resolutions that you're also helping with, from learning something new to connecting more with friends and family, from traveling more to finding more time for favorite pastimes and giving back via service to the community.

Flipping the coin to the other side, have you set goals or made resolutions for yourself and your facility? This is a good time to take stock and think about what you'd like to accomplish in the coming year. And, as always, we hope to continue partnering with you as you reach for and meet those goals, whether it's building a sparkling new facility or updating your existing offerings.

Cheers!

Emily Tipping
Editorial Director,
Recreation Management
[email protected]

Cheers!