Bringing It All Together: Practical steps for setting New Year’s resolutions in your on-site Dining Locations

Nearly half of all individuals reading this post will drop or change their New Year’s resolution by the end of January, and that statistic isn’t even looking at the large teams that you might be operating at your locations.  The unfortunate truth is that 43% of everyone making one or more New Year’s resolutions won’t sustain them until February.1 Before you throw in the towel, there are some things you can do to better your odds and those you lead in 2024.

·       Compulsion or Custom?  Many people set New Year’s resolutions because it’s just what you do.  Right? But it’s not always set up for success. Making changes for tradition’s sake instead of need decreases your likelihood of reaching your goal.(1) It comes down to motivation – wanting to versus having to.  Simply put, if you want change, it must be a need, not a trend.

·       Know Thyself.  Resolutions can fail if they involve dramatic changes in behavior or operations over a short period of time. If an individual can struggle with dramatic change, a whole operations team will also.  Taking baby steps may seem boring and ineffectual, but it’s a sounder strategy for ensuring success.(2)

·       Specificity as Strategy.  Spelling out your goals with your leadership and team increases the likelihood of achieving them.  It’s easier to complete a task with clear parameters than to achieve a nebulous plan.  An example would be the difference between “Make sure my operations are clean at all times” and “Check temperatures at three daily increments and clean /wipe surfaces while doing so.”  With a specific plan, you’ll know where you’re going and what it takes to get there.

With the New Year upon us, it is a good time to decide if resolution-setting is something you must do now.  If it is, then mapping out what you want and what steps you’ll take to get there will help to put you firmly in the top 50% of resolution setters.

1. Batts, R. (2023, February 2). Why Most New Year’s Resolutions Fail. Lead Read Today. Fisher College of Business. https://fisher.osu.edu/blogs/leadreadtoday/why-most-new-years-resolutions-fail#:~:text=Researchers%20suggest%20that%20only%209,fail%20at%20New%20Year’s%20resolutions.

2. Cherry, K. (2023, January 20). How to stick to your New Year’s resolutions this year. Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/how-to-keep-your-new-years-resolutions-2795719