Ever made a New Year’s Resolution? Ever kept one past January 31? If you have, celebrate! Many resolutions don’t make it that long and many more aren’t the permanent change the resolvers sought.

How can we make a resolution and keep it? One way is to make a SMART resolution. SMART goals, objectives, plans or resolutions have been around since the acronym originated in a 1981 Management Review publication.

In the acronym SMART, the S stands for Specific. A resolution needs to be specific not vague. “Lose weight” is not specific but “I will lose four pounds in January.�...