 New Year’s is a time when we look back on the past year, reflect on how far we've come, look forward to the coming year, and set goals for where we want to go. It's a time to reflect on the changes we want (or need) and dedicate ourselves to follow through on those changes.
The following tips will help to make your resolutions this year, the most successful ones you've ever made.
Make a Plan:
The goals you set for yourself should be thought out. Resolutions made last minute, right before the new year, are the most unsuccessful. To set your goals and to map out your strategy, set some time aside to sit down and physically remove yourself from the business of life. The old adage is true... if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
Give it Meaning:
Your goal should be something you desire to change for yourself, not something for friends or family. If the drive to achieve does not come from within, your success will be limited at best. Decide what you really want, put it on your list, and connect your desire to change with the vision of successful results.
Be Realistic:
Completely overhauling your life is not realistic. Keeping goals in perspective and at a manageable number is crucial. Focus on the biggest 3 goals that will impact your life the most this year. Also, saying you will lose 50 lbs by the March 1st is setting yourself up to fail. Set a goal and have realistic, incremental steps that will allow you to reward your successes.
Make it Measurable:
Clearly define the goal and expected outcome. If you want to get in shape, how will you know when it happens? You could define it as lowering your medication level, improving the range of motion in a joint, regaining the ability to walk up stairs without breathing hard, or achieving a specific amount of weight loss. Make it so you can measure it. Some examples of this are: drink only one soda instead of 6, walking 3 times a week, resistance train 2 days a week, and eat out only 1 day a week.
Allow for Time:
Any substantial goal will take some time. In our quick-fix society, we often get discouraged if it doesn't happen overnight. Depending of the size of your goal, there is a perfect amount of time for you to reach it. Experts say it takes 5000 repetitions or 21 days for something to become a habit. They also say it takes 6 months for any behavior to become part of your lifestyle. Stick with it and the rewards of your new lifestyle will become second nature.
Recruit Support:
Enlist the help of your friends and family to keep your goals and make you accountable. Talking about it keeps it in the forefront your mind. This also gives you a strategy to cope when you are tempted. To deal your temptation to have one more cigarette or skip that exercise session, you could call a “lifeline” friend to talk you down off of that “temptation” ledge.
Reward Yourself:
Give yourself credit for achieving your accomplishments. This doesn’t mean 3 deserts at the buffet line, if eating better is a goal. This may mean treating yourself to that red sweater that you've been wanting to buy. It would be a way to celebrate your healthier lifestyle and not contradict your goal of better health.
Allow for Setbacks:
An occasional slip is not cause to give up. No one wins all the time! Knowing that setbacks can be part of the resolution process and that process allows you to get off track and get right back on it, makes it so you can forgive yourself and move on after a mistake. Figure out why you had a setback, make the necessary changes so it won't happen again, and start over right away. Too many people give up with a single slip up. Persistence is the key to making any goal happen.
Frequently Re-Evalute
You should have check points along the route to make sure you're moving in the right direction. All of us need feedback reports to keep us motivated and knowing we are getting the right things done. Once you are showing success or are a little bit off your projected goals, step back and see if there are ways to increase the results you're getting or remove the obstacles that are hindering you. This is also a great time to revise the goal, if needed.
By following these guidelines, I'm not going to say your New Year's Resolutions are going to be any easier this year, but they're going to have a greater chance of being reached. Anything that starts with a plan and has some concrete thoughts applied, moves from the realm of a hope to that of a true goal with action behind it. This year my wish for you is that all your New Year's Resolutions become your reality!
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