BY ROHIT ARORA

COMMENTARY

The Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig commercials are already on the air, and so are the ads for gym memberships. The start of a new year motivates people to assess their lives and try to improve. Weight loss company sign-ups peak in January and fitness centers are always full at the start of the year. This usually lasts until mid February when people lose focus on their self-improvements or get depressed when changes don't seem to come fast enough.

The problem with New Year's Resolutions is that people are not always realistic when they set them. You cannot expect to run in the New York City Marathon if you have never even attempted a 5K race. When people do not establish realistic goals, they inevitably set themselves up for failure and frustration. Any trainer will tell you that it is important to set achievable goals and build off initial successes.

The same principles apply when setting business goals. A 20 percent increase in revenue is rarely possible without creating a viable plan for achieving that type of growth, and it usually comes repeatedly in smaller increments.