“A goal without a plan is just a wish.”

 -Antoine de Saint-Exupery, “The Little Prince”

It’s that time of year again. The New Year. A time for fresh starts. A time for new beginnings. A time for resolutions. Every year millions of Americans set personal improvement goals; and every year the majority of those people abandon their goals before the end of January. In fact, fewer than 10% of people who set resolutions ever see them come to fruition.

So, what sets those who succeed apart from those who don’t? Are they simply more dedicated? Do they have more motivation? Do they face fewer day-to-day distractions? Do they have more resources at their disposal?

As tempting as it is to attribute their success to innate traits or external resources that the rest of us simply do not possess or have access to, countless stories of those who have succeeded despite difficult circumstances prove this isn’t always true. Those who succeed do have certain things in common, but it isn’t just dedication or unlimited resources. Ultimately, success depends more upon how a person approaches achieving a goal than it does on the resources they have at their disposal. Luckily, there are five simple steps you can take that will make achieving your resolutions more likely.

1. 1. Identify the steps it will take to achieve the goal.

You’ve set a goal of running 1,000 miles before the end of the year. That isn’t going to happen simply because you wish for it to happen. If you are a lower-mileage runner, achieving this goal is going to involve modifying what you are currently doing. You will need to research how to do this safely and effectively. You will need to increase our knowledge base before setting out on this journey.

2. 2. Incorporate the steps it will take to achieve the goal into a sustainable plan.

Fitness goals can seem daunting. Without a plan, you can quickly become overwhelmed and fall off track. The key is to make a sustainable plan. For example, if you plan to run 1,000 miles, it will be helpful to break this down into a monthly, weekly, or even daily goal. In addition, the plan needs to be built upon reasonable expectations. If you’re currently only running 10 miles a week, it isn’t realistic to think that come January 1^st you can safely and successfully begin running 20 miles per week and sustain this simply because it’s the goal. There must be a plan to get there.

3. 3. Focus on the step at hand, not the end result.

Perhaps you’ve heard the metaphorical question, “How do you eat an elephant?” The answer, of course, is, “One bite at a time.”  Anything in life that seems daunting, overwhelming, or impossible can be achieved gradually by tackling just a little bit of it at a time. If you go back to the goal of running 1,000 miles in a year, running approximately 19 miles per week or roughly 2.75 miles per day, seems much more attainable than a four-digit number 365 days away.

4. 4. Regularly take stock of where you are in achieving the goal.

Even though you should make your day-to-day focus the individual steps of the plan, it is important to regularly (perhaps once a month) take stock of where you are on the road to achieving your overall goal. Are you on track? Do you need to make adjustments? Are their scheduling issues coming up in your life that will interfere with the plan?

5. 5. Allow for setbacks.

Unfortunately, setbacks will happen. Unpredictability is the nature of life. However, if you plan for them in advance, setbacks are less likely to derail your plan in its entirety. If there are weeks when you can get 22 miles instead of 19, it will provide the cushion needed to allow for unexpected intrusions in your plan. If you know you are going to have to work late at the end of the week and you run more miles on Sunday and Monday to offset the shortage, you won’t be left scrambling to make up the miles after the fact. It is easy to become overwhelmed by setbacks if you haven’t planned for them.

New Year’s Resolutions frequently get bad press, and the achievement statistics can be disheartening. However, by approaching your resolution with a plan incorporating these five steps, your goal can become a reality because you will have built the foundation to achieve it.