Seven Ways to Ensure your New Year's Resolutions Stick
Are you tired of the yearly yo-yo of New Year resolutions? Have you made the same resolution year after year with little net advance or stick-to-it-tivity? When we want to change something in our lives, we make these sweeping packs and resolutions that just don’t last. Then, with disgust, we beat ourselves up for awhile and eventually forget about it as life moves on.
According to the website Statistic Brain, the percentage of Americans who successfully achieve their New Year’s resolution is 8%. If that’s a rate of return on a money market account, I’d say great, sadly…
Simplify
Every year Chris Brogan comes up with three words to use as central focus for his goals and efforts for the year. I like this. Take some monumental resolution like eliminating negativity and create a buzz word. The other fact is that we tend to create exhaustive lists of things we want to start and stop. Don’t do it, it only leads to overwhelm. Pick one to three things and get’em going. After you’ve got momentum, add one if you need to but avoid the overachiever fail..
Baby Step It!
This is a great way for us to get started and keep with anything. If you find yourself sitting there with a stack of papers on your desk with seemly no end in sight, pick up one paper and deal with it. Create stacks of like paper categories, then deal with one category at a time. Smaller bite sized chunks of tasks are easier on the psyche than the whole of the mess.
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Story board It!
It’s been said, a pictures worth a thousand words, well, a pictured resolution will also keep your goal in mind as a word-picture.
Almost a Habit!
The more you try, the more chances of developing habit!
Keep getting up!
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. With the busyness of our modern lives, there is no need to expect total perfection from the start. If you drop your resolution for a day, a week, or even a month or two, there is no reason to wait the rest of the year to make the same resolution on New Years Day. Pick yourself up and begin again. Give yourself a brake.
Join the Band!
If you’ve not experienced the power of group dynamics for goal attainment, your missing a whole new experience. You say, I prefer to go it alone. Try it, you might just be very surprised at the results. Push yourself to get past any reluctance to put yourself out there, every other member of the group is or has done the same.
Write about it!
This can be as simple as writing down your resolutions or starting a journal about your journey. The act of writing it down can have a way of solidifying your intent. And certainly journaling the path will help keep it fresh on a regular basis.
Anything worth doing, is worth fighting for!
You know you want to do it. That's why you've decided to make a resolution. Be resolved, get it done, one way or another. You will thank yourself later.
start with one thing!
This may seem a bit like simplify, I assure you , it’s not. Lets say your resolution is better health in the new year. Instead of starting a exercise program, changing your whole diet plan, or eating more veggies, choose one thing. For example, purchase one piece of fruit on your next trip to the grocery store.