January 1 is a fresh start for many – an opportunity to set exciting career or personal goals like getting a promotion or saving for that trip to Paris. Yet in 2024, only 30% of Americans set a New Year’s resolution, says Pew Research. The 70% who didn’t set goals cite breaking resolutions too easily, struggling to create meaningful goals or simply disliking the process. For those feeling that resolutions are often a losing game, AI-powered tools like chatbots and apps can help make this year different by helping you set resolutions that are practical and unique to you.

AI Is An Excellent Active Listener

For many people, traditional goal-setting feels static, nothing more than a conversation with ourselves that results in a sticky note on the bathroom mirror. In contrast, generative AI is interactive. It asks questions, rephrases ideas and can suggest new ideas based on input, mirroring the way humans engage in active listening. AI is also fast – it responds in real time, making it an ideal brainstorming partner.

AI is also highly customizable. Because it tailors recommendations to your inputs, it offers personalized plans for your goals based on your habits and preferences (but sensitive data should be avoided). AI can also help you set SMART goals – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound – making tracking progress easier and increasing your chances of success.

How To Write Your New Year’s Prompt With AI

If you’re ready to try using generative AI tools for your resolutions, start by crafting a clear, thoughtful prompt. Here are some prompting best practices to get you started:

1. Tell AI about yourself: You don’t need to share your life’s story, but tell AI some goals you might like to achieve, your strengths and weaknesses and what you’d like help with. This context helps AI customize its ideas specifically to you.

Example Prompt: “Please help me create a New Year’s resolution. Here is information about me that you can use to suggest helpful resolutions [insert your strengths, challenges, hopes, goals, etc.]…”

2. Define your focus areas. After introducing yourself, ask AI to suggest a list of five to 10 New Year’s resolutions. If you only want ones related to fitness or work, then say that. If you’re open to other ideas, you can ask AI to think outside the box when coming up with suggestions.

Example Prompt: “With the information I gave you, please suggest a list of resolutions I may find useful this year relating to fitness and my career.”

3. Review and refine AI suggestions: You can provide more information to AI and get different responses or ask it to change the wording or goal to match your needs.

Example Prompt: “Can you rewrite X resolution to be met within six months?” Or, “Can you adapt this resolution to focus on small business owners?”

4. Create SMART goals: Once you know your resolution(s), ask AI to create SMART goals to help you meet them!

Example Prompt: “Please suggest SMART goals to help me achieve my New Year’s resolution.”

5. Track progress: Once you have your resolution, you can even use AI-driven apps or features (like reminders in productivity apps) to stay accountable. Regular tracking helps you stick to your goals and makes progress visible, even with a simple check-in.

If you’ve never had success with New Year’s resolutions or you want to shake things up this year, let AI help you create some of your best resolutions yet!