Making Your New Year’s Resolutions Work

Jan 16, 2015
So here were are mid-January, 2015. How are your New Year’s resolutions coming along? I don’t have to tell you that resolutions fail more often than not, and many Americans have likely already given up after a couple of weeks of best intentions.

Here are some tips to help keep your New Year on track:

Specificity

Break your bigger goals down into manageable, practical steps. Don’t just say I want to lose 10 pounds this year. Say I will to go the gym three times weekly until I’ve lost 10 pounds. Don’t just say I want to communicate better with my spouse in 2015. Say I will go on one date night weekly with my spouse, even when we have to rearrange our schedules to do so.

 

Immediate Action

Postponing your goals won’t work. Harness the energy of a new year and take some decisive action toward your goal within the next 24 hours. Worry less about eventually meeting your goal sometime in the future, and focus more on genuinely pursuing your goal in the Here and Now. If you want to improve your fitness this year, call RIGHT NOW and make an appointment with a personal trainer. If you want to achieve a better work/home balance this year, get online and research vacations TODAY. Take some concrete action, however small, that nudges you a little closer to your goal.

 

Troubleshooting

What do you do if, after your best attempts, you’re simply not making any headway toward your goal? Don’t bother with self-judgments like “I’m too lazy” or “I’m too ADD” or whatever. These don’t address the obstacle. Instead, troubleshoot by asking yourself three questions:

• If you could push a magic button and immediately realize your goals today, how would your life change? If you lost those ten pounds, what then? How would you feel differently from day to day? Who would be most likely to notice this change in you?
• Is there something about the above consequences, the results of accomplishing your goal, that is threatening to you? If you lose 10 pounds will you get more attention, some of it unwanted, from the opposite sex? If you get that big promotion will you co-workers resent you? If you finally set healthy boundaries with your family will they feel insulted? When it comes to realizing our goals, fear is a formidable obstacle.
• Once you’ve identified self-limits imposed by fear, try to see these limits at work in your life from day to day. Competition with your peers, the opinions of your friends and family, outdated core beliefs–notice how these things tend to feed your fears. Simply shining the light of awareness on these fears begins to loosen them, to take away their power.

 

Remember: Situations and circumstances don’t ultimately hold you back. You do. Change you, and your life will follow.