Another year is upon us and with that comes a time of reflection. Looking back at the year before allows us to evaluate, re-think and adjust our goals and expectations. Whether you dread New Years resolutions or look forward to them it’s important to think about what you did the year before and what you would like to accomplish in the new year.
Now, sticking to your New Years resolutions is another ball game. So many people set out to make these resolutions only to fall short just a few months afterwards. Why is that? Well, I believe it’s because most people make resolutions but lack any kind of road map to achieve them. I’m here to give you just that. Here’s my 5 powerful ways to keep your New Years resolutions.
5 Powerful Ways To Keep Your New Years Resolutions!
Change Your Mindset
In order to make your New Years resolutions stick you need to change your mindset. What I mean by this is the way you think about your resolutions. I like to look at them as goals more than resolutions. The word resolution means ‘a firm decision to do or not to do something’ or ‘the action of solving a problem, dispute, or contentious matter’. I think most of us look at resolutions as the latter and that can have a negative connotation associated with it. It’s as if you’re trying to fix something that’s broken. Instead, develop new goals and make a plan on how you’re going to achieve them.
Think about your New Years resolutions as you would about accomplishing a task at work. At work you wouldn’t attempt anything without first making a plan of action. Things don’t just magically happen. You need to plan everything out in order to know what needs to be done. This is exactly how you should look at your New Years resolutions. Write down what you’re trying to accomplish in the whole year. If you don’t write it down you can easily forget it and move on. This way you’ll have something to go back to. This process also helps you to visualize your goals.
Write Down Your Steps
You should also write down the exact steps you’re going to follow to accomplish each goal. Without this you’ll have no idea what needs to be done in order to actually get it done. For example, if you want to eat healthier you might need to make a weekly meal plan to prepare your meals. That way you can get all the shopping done for the week, set time aside to make food and therefore make healthier choices.
Here’s a handy Weekly Meal Planner I created for anyone wanting to change their eating habits in the New Year. Get it here or click on the image below!
Set SMART Goals
Now that you’ve written down your goals you’ll have a clearer idea of what you want to accomplish. This next task will help you further define your goals and make them easier to achieve. Have you ever heard of SMART goals? This is a popular business acronym that simply means:
S – Specific
M – Measurable
A – Attainable
T – Time-sensitive
Why SMART goals?
That’s because now you’re getting to the real nitty-gritty of your actual goal at hand. You get to narrow it down to the specifics.
Specific
Pick a goal and be as detailed about it as you can i.e. I want to loose 50 pounds vs. I want to loose weight. In this situation putting a number on the goal will make you think about whether it’s something you can actually do. Anybody can say they want to loose weight but that’s not detailed enough and therefore not as actionable as it can be.
Measurable
Now, you need to figure out how you’re going to measure your progress i.e. I’m going to set-up weekly/monthly weight-ins to monitor my progress. This keeps you on track for your overall goal. This way each week you can see if what you’re doing is actually working or not. If it’s working great, if it’s not then you can adjust what you’re doing accordingly. For example, perhaps you’re not following your meal plan or you find it difficult to cook as often as you have set out to do. Now, you can figure out if you need to change your direction.
Attainable
When you’re setting up your goals you need to keep in mind whether it’s something that you can actually attain. Anybody can make goals that are so out there that it’s virtually impossible to achieve them. You need to really think about your own abilities and figure out if your goal is realistic. For example if you want to loose 50 pounds but you have never exercised in your life, have no access to a gym or home work-out videos or personal trainer this might be hard to accomplish. So you need to be realistic and have a plan to achieve it i.e. I’m going to join a gym or buy workout videos and/or get a trainer.
Time-sensitive
The last step is to put a deadline on your goal i.e. I want to loose 50 pounds by the end of the year. You can further narrow down your goal by breaking it up into smaller tasks. For example, I want to loose 5 pounds in 3 months. Then every 3 months you have something to keep you in check. This will help you stay on track, measure your results and adjust any behavior in order to accomplish your overall end of the year goal.
Be Accountable
Making a plan and setting up your goals is all good and well but you need to ensure you can stick to your plan. How can you do that? You can accomplish this by getting an accountability partner. This is a person that knows about your overall goal and is there to support you. Letting someone know about your plan will help you stick to it. It’s one thing to let yourself down if you fall short of your tasks but letting someone else down is even worse. This person can help you get back on track. They’re there to listen, offer advice and most importantly to give you courage. Make sure you pick someone who is both a good listener and someone who’s very motivated himself or herself. You wouldn’t want to have an accountability partner who’s a slacker and full of negativity.
Stay Positive
Speaking of negativity, that’s the real dream killer. Negativity is like cancer, it can spread quickly. You better nip it in the butt ASAP! I’m not saying you always have to be super positive and never get down about a small failure. That’s only natural. After all you’re only human. You’re allowed to have a bad day or two. They key here is not to wallow in your misery for too long or it might overtake you. Take a breather and do something you like. It could be just lying on the couch watching your favorite TV show or movie. Perhaps try getting out of town for a few days to unwind. Whatever it is, just do it and don’t feel bad about it. Once a few days passes you’ll be back to your old self and ready to get back on that horse.
Celebrate Small Wins
This one is my favorite! Make sure you celebrate wins no matter how small they are. This goes hand in hand with staying positive. You’re been working hard for a month following a strict diet and you’re down 3 pounds! This might not be a huge accomplishment for someone else but for you it’s progress. It’s more than you lost a month ago. That’s amazing! You should be proud of yourself. Now, when I say celebrate I don’t mean eat a whole cake and throw your progress down the drain. No, no, no! Celebrate in a way that won’t jeopardize your overall goal. Have that extra glass of wine or treat yourself to a night out at your favorite restaurant. Do something you love! And remember these small wins combined together over time will equal that big win in the end.
So are you ready to tackle your New Years resolutions now? I hope I’ve given you some positive direction and courage to stick to your goals. Do you want more motivation? Feel free to read my post Stop Dreaming, Start Doing and learn a little bit more about me along the way!
You can do it if you believe it!
Are you trying to accomplish something this year? Share with me in the comments below. Do you have a plan on how you’re going to attain your goal?
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WOW. Great Post. You definitely thought about this in depth. Thank you, I will be using these for this new year.
I’m so happy to hear that. Yay! That just made my day. Happy to be helpful. And Happy New Year ?
Happy New Years to you too! 🙂
Thank you so much. You too 🙂
I love this post! It’s great how much detail you give and I love how you mentioned the acronym SMART – I’ve never heard of it before but it makes goal setting much easier and less scary. I also wrote a post about setting New Year’s resolutions and intentions, and I included a free template where you can write down your resolutions and intentions to make sure you stay on top of them! You can check it out at my blog: http://www.reeseandharper.com
Oh that’s awesome Brianna. I’ll make sure to check out your post as well. Happy New Year.
I love the SMART goal acronym! I have never heard of it before, but when you lay out the steps it makes perfect sense!
Oh I’m happy to hear that. It is very helpful when you look at it that way.
This is really good advice. Being too vague about your resolution means that there’s little way to measure whether or not you are progressing. I also agree that you should reframe resolutions as goals. I’m currently working on a list of goals on a 3 week cycle. I think I read somewhere that it takes 3 weeks of repetitive action to make something a habit, so I’ve been working on writing every day for 15 mins for the last 3 weeks. Next week I’m going to start doing daily exercise and then I can move on to quitting refined sugar.
That’s sounds amazing. Looks like you’ve got a good plan for 2018. I quit refined sugar and salt years ago. Good on you to do that. Yay to 2018!
Every year I fail to keep my resolutions. Your post is great to stay focused.
Oh Brooke, you can do it if you believe it! I hope you accomplish your goals this year.
Very Happy New Year dear. I’m so bad with my resolutions. But this a great idea , to treat them as goals, write down steps, and keep them smart. Agree totally. Love it. Hopefully this year, it will help, to keep it up!
Yes yes yes you can do it Karishma. You just have to keep going and not give up. That’s the key.
For me it’s always about keeping it realistic. So many great ways to stay on track though. Thanks for sharing a great post
I agree Tahnee. No point coming out with outlandish goals if there’s no way of keeping them. Good for you. That’s so smart.
Yes to all of these suggestions!!!! I am trying a different approach to achieving my goals this year! And these tips are so helpful!
Very happy to hear that. I wish you all the luck and determination in 2018!
Thanks you!
Great post Kasia! Great advice and tips on how to attain our goals. I’m trying to get motivated so I can kick some butt in 2018!
Thanks Jonia. That sounds awesome. I know you will kick some butt this year.
Now all I need to do is actually set new years resolutions lol
Ha ha ha Kelly Jean!!!
I agree so much on setting a time frame and also a way of measuring progress and results. All of your tips are so helpful!! Having a positive outlook is a total must too. I enjoyed this post, such a great guide for not just New Years resolutions, but goals for any time of the year!
Thanks so much Lisa. I really wanted to help people start the New Year right but you are correct these tips would work at anytime. Glad to hear you enjoyed the post.
Celebrating small wins is my favorite! haha! Never not finding a reason to party 😛
To be honest, I achieved half of what my last year’s resolution list had on and i couldn’t be prouder!
I agree Niki. You gotta celebrate. And glad to hear you accomplished some of your goals last year.
Love this list! I absolutely agree with what you have highlighted. Thanks for sharing!
I’m so glad to hear that. Thank you for visiting.
These are useful tips! I am sort of getting to the point where I feel like quitting my resolutions but your post encouraged me.
Oh I’m so happy to hear that. Please don’t give up. Just take small steps to achieve them and you can surely do it.