5 Tips to Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions
January 1st is just around the corner and for many of us, it means it’s time for New Year’s resolutions.
If you can get rid of the pressure often associated with such resolutions and simply treat them as goals for the coming year, the start of a new year is a perfect time to launch a new initiative, start a self-improvement campaign or tackle a project that you’ve been putting off.
However, according to “Forbes” magazine, 92 percent (!) of people who make New Year’s resolutions fail to achieve them. I happen to think that the poor success rate is due in large part because we put too much pressure on ourselves and because we create impossible goals.
Instead of setting yourself up for defeat this New Year’s season, plan ahead for success and increase the chances that you will achieve your goals this year. This monthly goals printable will help you keep track of everything as you plan for the New Year.
Below are five suggestions on how to do just that:
1. Make your goals doable
It’s tempting to create grandiose, multi-faceted goals for the coming year. However, you’ll increase your chances of sticking with your goal(s) if you make them doable. Just like work goals, life goals are easier if they are broken into small pieces. You can always continue with your plan next year.
2. Tell your best friend (but not your worst)
Telling your best supporter about your goals for the year is a great way to get valuable feedback as well as encouragement. However, make sure that you limit your sharing to just those one or two people that you know have your best interests at heart.
It’s a funny thing that happens when you share with everyone: you’ll feel you already accomplished it and somehow we lose the motivation to achieve that specific goal.
3. Keep it simple
“Forbes” cautions us that it’s easy to make a bucket list of things that we want to improve upon in our lives for the coming year. According to the writer, that’s a recipe for failure and I agree. Better to focus on one or two small goals instead of a laundry list.
4. Break up your goal into segments
Increase your success rate by setting benchmarks for your resolution goals throughout the year. For instance, if your goal is to lose 40 pounds by the end of the year, break that up into four pounds a month. That not only sounds a lot more doable, but you won’t be tempted to delay getting started until March or April. Here is a yearly calendar to help you keep track of your goals. You can also get instant access to the entire organizing vault by subscribing here.
5. Visualize yourself succeeding
You also increase your chances of succeeding if you can see yourself pounds thinner, as a successful small business owner or as volunteering at a local charity weekly. Whatever your goal, if you can see it, you can do it.
So, this year increase the chances that you’ll be one of the eight percent of Americans who meet their New Year’s goals. All it takes is a realistic approach and a can-do attitude.
