Any time is a good time to set and manage goals, but the beginning of a new year is often a trigger for people to assess where they’re heading.

We’ve all heard of “New Year’s resolutions,” perhaps you’ve even set some yourself. How successful were you in achieving them? The numbers for people “falling off the wagon” are telling – around 80% of resolutions have failed by February.

We know that the secret to making resolutions stick is not to make resolutions at all. Why? Resolutions tend to be ill-defined ideas such as “lose weight” or “work out more often.” They fail because there are no clear parameters, steps, or measurable outputs. The human brain is wired to prefer the same old routine, so it’s difficult to get results without a good plan.

Goal setting is much more effective, particularly if those goals are clearly defined. Visualizing your way to those goals is a strategy that has been proven to...