The New Year's Resolution... We All Make One!
Whether youre making multiple New Years resolutions or wanting to work towards one bigger goal, be sure to pick something thats achievable within the years time frame.The trick is to turn your optimism for the New Year into concrete actions. Once you introduce your resolution into your routine, it becomes easier to follow through.
New Years Resolutions Need To Be Achievable, Clear Goals
By creating achievable goals you dont set yourself up for future failure. Lets use a common New Years resolution as an example. Lets say your goal is to lose weight. In this example you should start by determining where you stand currently, and then give yourself a goal that can be achieved at a reasonable rate, say at a rate of 1-2 pounds per week.
Youll also benefit from making clear goals. Rather than saying that you want to be thinner, say how many pounds youd like to lose. Then define the how as well. Are you going to follow a specific diet? How are you going to cut calories? Are you going to start a moderate exercise routine? How often?
By defining your goal in this way, you know before you start that its achievable, and you also know exactly what you have to do to achieve it! This dramatically improves your chances of success! You know exactly what you want and how youre going to get there. All you need to do now is take action.
The Importance Of Taking Action
This is the part where people often run into trouble. Its easy to get pumped up about an idea when youre talking about it, but when it comes to the point where you have to actually execute your plan, you might be tempted to fall short.
In this situation, instead of thinking about completing the whole task, you only need to find the energy to start. Tell yourself that youre going to stick to your new plan for one week and then evaluate how it went. Doing something for just one week is not that big a deal. On the other hand, when you consider a long term task all in one go, youll be less likely to begin in the first place! If you are worried that a task is overwhelming, break it into smaller steps by focusing on the short term.
Add Your New Years Resolution To Your Routine
Another reason for focusing on baby steps at first is because you want to get into a new routine. Once you have your New Years resolution as a part of your routine its actually easier to hold yourself to it. The good news is that it can take as little as two weeks to get a new routine established.
For example, in the weight loss scenario, starting an exercise routine can be especially grueling if youre out of shape. The first two days can leave you tired, sore, and weak. That doesnt sound like fun at all! However, those first two days are the worst youll endure. After your routine is established, you will probably find that you look forward to your exercise sessions.
Reward Yourself - I will have no problem with this part.
You should reward yourself for your excellent efforts because you deserve it for working hard to change yourself for the better. However, you dont need to wait until the end of the year to treat yourself.
We have already seen that its best to break up your goals into smaller pieces and every time you achieve a milestone, (even if its just the completion of the first week) you should give yourself something that you enjoy. It could be an item youve been wanting or maybe a night out on the town.
Regularly rewarding yourself for a job well done motivates you to keep going!
Do It Again!
Once you see the progress you can make when you use the proper approach to New Years resolutions, you can then repeat the process (you dont have to wait until the end of the year) and work on another aspect of your life. Before you know it, youll be a perfectly happy and healthy person because of your awareness, perseverance, and hard work!
