We all hear the same thing every new year dawns upon us: New Year resolutions. From goals such as getting in shape to stop procrastinating, New Year’s resolutions are the perfect opportunity for all those who have failed to start making the changes that they said they would make the previous year.

For many however, making resolutions for the new year are easier than actually sticking to them. For example, HowStuffWorks said,“Thirty-five percent of people who make New Year’s resolutions break them by the end of January. Only 23 percent of everyone who makes a resolution will see it through to completion.”

Even some Edison students agree, including Senior Enrique Gomes, who said, “In this day and age, it is becoming even harder to complete a New Year’s resolution because of the amount of commitment it needs. Many are very lazy and set very high goals for themselves in the New Year, and are unable to fulfill them obviously.”

One way to stick to a New Year’s resolution is to choose the right resolution: one you can actually fulfill and stick to. According to the time management firm FranklinCovey, “One-third of all New Year’s resolutions” don’t make it past January. Many of these resolutions don’t stay because people don’t have a realistic plan to follow, or the fact that the resolution is based on what society tells you to change, not on what you want to change for yourself.

Another great way to fulfill your New Year’s resolutions is to create SMART resolutions. SMART is the acronym the journal Management Review minted back in 1981, which stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. Resolutions based on these five words are almost guaranteed to have an effect on helping to achieve your goal.

In the “SMART” acronym,

“S” stands for specific goals. These goals create a clear path to achieving the goal properly, without any vagueness or side-tracking.

“M” stands for measurable; goals that you can measure to see the change the resolution has brought about in  your life.

“A” is for Achievable – goals that help you both stay on track and stay determined to complete the goal.

“R” is for relevant goals, which remind you that the goal really matters to you and that you need to achieve it for success. And lastly,

“T” is for time-bound goals, goals that should be set in time so that you can focus and complete them in the fastest time possible.

Jaspreet Singh, another Senior at Edison, says that the SMART method of creating a New Year’s resolution would be very effective. “The five words encompass all the important things you need to fulfill your resolution, and makes the task much easier. This method definitely would increase the amount of resolutions being completed.”

If you want to change something in your life, it’s still not too late. You can make a resolution or goal for yourself anytime of the year – the main thing is to complete it. With the aforementioned advice, you’ll be able to devise a achievable goal for yourself and complete it in no time!