How to Save Your Doomed Resolution

29% of us have already failed. Here’s a rescue strategy.

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Issue 11 | January 13, 2017 | How to Save Your Doomed Resolution

Here we are, almost two weeks into 2017. Which means that about 29% of us resolution-makers have already abandoned our New Year’s resolutions. What a relief to have that unpleasantness behind us!

If you’re the resolution-setting type, perhaps your plan is (…or was) to lose weight – the top-cited goal here, here, here, here…you get the idea. And if you’re in the content marketing game, odds are that at work, you’d love to make content more engaging – the top-cited challenge for content marketers.

I actually adore resolutions and think they’re an ideal exercise for anyone in creative and strategic planning posts. We’re essentially asking, how can the future be better than today? What would be different? How can we get there? Yet, only 8% of resolutions make it to the end of the year.

So why do they fall aside so quickly? It may boil down to one problem: the resolutions we make are not commitments to actions; they’re wished-for outcomes. If a resolution is just a wish, it’s understandably doomed.

Let’s look at “lose weight.” It sounds like an action, but it’s not. It’s a wished-for outcome that is dependent on a million cumulative small actions and choices, all the things that we do and don’t do, eat and don’t eat, etc.

Resolving is the act of deciding firmly. When you decide firmly on an outcome – so what? I decide firmly that my straight hair will grow in curly. I decide firmly that my income will double this year. I decide firmly that my children will speak politely to adults. Fingers crossed!

Put energy into radical compliance

 Instead, we can think of our resolutions more narrowly, as committing to comply with a very specific action. If we want our wishes to come true, our only hope for success is to look instead at the process that could lead us to our wished-for outcome. Once we’re looking at the process, we can narrow our sights even more on specific actions. Once we’re looking at actions, we can identify one or two that are impactful, measurable and achievable.

Now we’re in the smart resolution business. “My resolution is to lose weight” would look something more like “I decide firmly that this month I will have after-dinner snacks only on weekends.” If the goal is small and simple, you can put your real energy into radical compliance. You can decide so hard.

Realistic resolutions for more engaging content

So let’s suppose you really would like to move the needle in the engagement with your content. What actions can bring you closer to that wished-for outcome?

1. Define the wished-for outcome narrowly. For instance, specify what “engagement” means to you, and pick something measurable. There’s your real wish – “Have 10% more/better [shares] [comments] [web traffic] [newsletter subscriptions] [referrals].”

2. Look at the mechanisms that create such an outcome. We know a few things about what makes content engaging. It’s on a topic that your audience cares about. It offers new information or insightful opinions. It uses visuals. It deploys storytelling. It has a compelling title. It’s super-scannable, with frequent headers and takeaway callouts. It varies paragraph and sentence length. It’s written by conversational humans instead of jargon-machines.

3. Pick one or two SMALL and SPECIFIC actions in that process. Say you want to improve the titles of your content this year. At the start or end of your content-making process, you can brainstorm 50 titles. You can use a title optimizing tool. You can assign a title approval czar in the editorial stage. You can publish A/B versions of the same piece with different titles.

4. BONUS: Consider shortening your resolution timeline to a quarter. A year is an awfully long time for us feedback-seeking animals. Why can’t the goal evolve over the year, with a renewed target each quarter and the chance to build on your progress? You can start by putting quarterly resolution dates on your calendar right now.

5. Enjoy your entry to the 8-percent-club. Track your successes so you can pile them into next year’s After-Action Report.

May your resolutions be un-doomed and your year a prosperous and healthy one!

Facing a mismatch between your editorial calendar and your staffing?  Reach out to learn more about how I can help you build your financial brand with engaging and human content.