Goals and Routines: What Works for Marlene

Marlene tells us how she was successful on her goal last year.

According to studies, only 8% of the people who make New Year’s Resolutions achieve them. That’s a lot of flunked diets, unwritten books, and messy closets.

However. Studies show that if people have accountability partners for their goals, the chance that they will achieve their aspirations jumps from 8% to 65%.

That’s a huge jump.

I’m proof of this. In January of 2019, I pledged myself on Home Joys to finally read the Bible in one year. I also made myself accountable in real life to my aunt Katherine, who lives in the other end of our house. I met my goal, and met Christ anew through that plan – but I know I would have petered out in Leviticus without the accountability.

Dire consequences can be effective motivation as well, especially when partnered with a partner. One secular source declared that failure to meet goals should have an immediate effect on the bank account. That same author publicly pledged to donate to an organization/ charity that he didn’t agree with, if he failed to reach his goal. 

I recently heard of two women who held each other to a stiff diet for a month, with the pact that if they failed they would need to clean the other’s house. I assure you there was no cleaning.

Another simple technique that works for me is to Write It Down. I don’t say this because I’m a writer; I say it because it works. Vague ideas that “I should lose weight/write that book/clean out the closet” are not half so useful as a concise, dated statement taped onto my mirror.  

- Marlene R. Brubacher - Ontario

What about you? Do you find that accountability helps you to meet your goals?