1. New Year's resolutions are a conspiracy to sell gym memberships, whereas summer goals are a conspiracy to be radical and hang out with the boys.
2. The worst time to set goals is when it's so cold outside that you don't want to leave your house.
3. Seasonal depression isn't compatible with self improvement.
4. Summer is the best time for goals because it's a period of exploration, outdoor activities, and social bonding. It's the perfect season to map out your adventures.
5. Summer is a whole season. Setting goals spanning several months gives you enough time to make significant changes, but it also gives you time to fall off the horse and get back on--because there's still time to finish your goals before the end of summer.
6. You might argue a year long goal gives you EVEN MORE time to improve. But by February 1st, nobody cares about New Year's. Most resolutions don't last more than a week or two. Summer, on the other hand, is not just one day on the calendar you have to keep convincing yourself is important.
7. Saying "I'm not going to eat sugar anymore" or "I'm gonna start running every day" with no end in sight is a bad way to set goals. Summer Goals provide a timeline for improvement. I've adapted many good habits from short term summer goals (reading more books, building health metrics, doing more travelling and exploring, etc.). On the other hand, I've never had a New Year's resolution impact my life two weeks after the start of the new year.
Personally, I don't make New Years resolutions of things to change about my life. But on January 1st, I do think about where I want to be at the end of the year. I think of that book I'm hoping to write, how I want to finish grad school, how I want to get into triathlons this year, etc. It does help to write them down and see if I got there when the year is over. But summer goals is when I make a list of specific things I want to do with specific people at specific places before a specific date. Summer goals are where the magic happens.
Summer goals rule.