Resolution Strategies from a Late Bloomer

With 11 hours to go before the ball drops in Times Square, I’m thinking about New Year’s resolutions—and how to make them stick. Statistics show that 45% of us make them every year, but that only eight percent of those who do will consistently achieve their goals.

Why are New Year’s resolutions so hard to keep—especially as we grow older? 

According to research by author Steve Shapiro and the Opinion Corporation, “the younger you are, the more likely you are to achieve your resolutions.”

39% of those in their twenties achieve their resolutions every year or every other year.

Less than 15% of those over 50 achieve their resolutions every year or every other year.

Like many of you, I’ve often struggled—and frequently failed—to accomplish my own New Year’s resolutions. But this year has been different: I achieved my resolution and it stuck. Consistently. It’s been a watershed year.

Prior to 2008, I had a life-long dream of being a writer. It was a dream deferred: I knew exactly what I wanted to do, and I was always moving towards my goal, but I never fully accomplished it. Has this ever happened to you?

Here are the mistakes I made and how I resolved it.

1. I consistently told myself I wasn’t ready. Early on, several seasoned writers told me that my chances of success as a writer would increase if I developed an area of expertise on which to write. I discovered that I loved working and thinking about “careers.” I earned my Master's degree in counseling, then spent 10 years learning about job functions and industry needs, following employment trends, and drafting resumes and cover letters with job seekers at Penn, Dartmouth, and Columbia University. But because trends and job search strategies are continually changing…I never considered myself an expert until I had years worth of work experience.
   
   
2. I looked to my day job as the primary outlet to achieve my dream—even when it wasn’t directly aligned with what I wanted to do. I sought out and found career-related work that allowed me to write as much as possible. I wrote proposals, website content, handouts, and moderated list serves, but there was a finite limit to what I was able to do outside of my work with students and alumni. My jobs required strong communication skills, but the primary function of the position wasn’t writing.
   
   
3. I relied on conventional advice and proven methods of goal setting. I followed professional advice and established goals using the tried and true SMART method: my target was Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Targeted.
   

In 2008, I realized that my SMART goals were setting me up to achieve what some call the definition of failure: “Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.” My goal was sound—but the method that I expected to achieve results by was doomed to fail because it didn't take my personal style into account: I expected to write in solitude even though my friends call me “the connector” because I am energized when I put people in touch with each other. (Can we say internal conflict?)

Achieving success required a fundamental redesign of my working style.

1. I stopped looking for satisfaction in unlikely sources. The job I started 2008 with required minimal writing and allowed little time for extended one-on-one time with job seekers. I had to make a painful acknowledgment that it wasn’t working and that it wasn’t a good fit in the long term.
   
   
2. I decided I was ready to write for a more public audience—and that not feeling like I knew “enough” was a strength rather than a weakness. I learned to ask questions and reference experts as appropriate. (I also took a helpful short course in writing articles for social media.)
   
   
3. I joined new communities of writers and career professionals and developed a web of support, encouragement, and new ideas. Prior to 2008, I had two distinct communities for my writing: a handful of friends who wrote, and colleagues and industry contacts who worked in similar functions or equivalent roles to my own. This year, I extended the conversation and was introduced to a new universe of people through Twitter, Career Hub, and a professional association in my industry, The Career Management Alliance.

Writing is now as routine for me as breakfast. I could tell you that my success is a direct result of a change in my self discipline, or any of the above mentioned changes. But I can't lie: Like many who achieve their goals later in life, my success is "highly contingent on the efforts of others" for which I am profoundly grateful. In a New Yorker essay exploring economist David Galenson's research on the differences between child prodigies and those who achieve success later in life, Malcolm Gladwell calls this the "final lesson of the late bloomer." As Gladwell says, "Prodigies are easy. They advertise their genius from the get-go. Late bloomers are hard. They require forbearance and blind faith.” (Did you know Cezanne has his first show at 56, and once had a friend sit for him for over 150 sittings before deciding to abandon a painting?)

Could it be that 20-somethings have a leg up on accomplishing their resolutions because they are shorter in years (and, thus habits) and are more likely to have peer pressure as a motivator?

Do you have the sneaking suspicion that you too could be a late bloomer? Check out Professor Galenson’s work, and chuckle over the adventures of late bloomers far more successful than me in Malcolm Gladwell’s essay. Then put pen to paper, identify a supportive friend or family member to hold you accountable, and make your resolution.

I can’t wait to hear what happens.

Comments

[Dan Erwin]

I haven't read the research so my comment should be viewed in that perspective. I suspect, however, that comparing actual resolutions by the younger generation and that of olders is a deep research black hole. It could readily degenerate into a comparison of the proverbial apples and oranges type. Longer experience may mean that you pick more profoundly difficult resolutions--that's not a slap at the younger generation--merely the recognition that agendas are significantly different between the generations. That would indicate that the resolution rate differences between generations is meaningless.

[Chandlee Bryan]

Dan,

Thanks for your feedback: it is much appreciated. Given your background and research interests, I'll keep you on my short list to consult the next time I write a similar piece on behavioral research. (I look forward to seeing your book.)

In the interim, you may want to check out David Galenson's website. According to the Malcolm Gladwell article referenced above, Galenson's research on the differences between prodigies and late bloomers resulted in the finding that "prodigies tend to be 'conceptual,' in the sense that they start with a clear idea of where they want to go, and then they execute it...But late bloomers tend to work the other way around. Their approach is experimental...[they build] their skills gradually over the course of their careers, improving their work slowly over long periods."

This is the perspective from which I wrote the piece--I have taken the more experimental approach in my own career. I hope you won't mind if I follow the guidelines in your white paper on "how to ask for advice" and follow up with you in the future. (Nice piece by the way; I will recommend to others.)

Again, thanks for taking the time to weigh in with your expertise.

Chandlee Bryan