Now that we have rolled over into 2017 and the holidays are over, everyone is ready to make some goals for the New Year!! According to www.statisticbrain.com the top five New Year’s resolutions are to: Lose weight, get organized, spend less, save more, enjoy life to the fullest, and stay fit and healthy. Can you guess how many of us actually follow through on these goals?? Surprisingly only 45% of Americans usually make their New Year’s resolutions stick!! I am curious to hear how many of my readers and clients feel that they have achieved their goals for resolutions in the past. Personally, I don’t remember a time when I have kept working at my goal for the entire year. I think I typically give up by the time Spring rolls around. So this year let’s try something different. Try taking these three steps to make our resolutions sick this time around:
- Make your goals small and realistic. Often times we bite off way more than we can chew in terms of goals for ourselves. Maybe your goal is to run a marathon, but you haven’t been to the gym in years. This goal does not sound realistic in the least. My suggestion would be to set a goal that is attainable and feels good. Perhaps making a goal of walking 3 days a week is more realistic than running a marathon. Before you decide on a goa,l take five minutes to visualize yourself achieving that goal. Can you really see it happening? How does it feel to have achieved this? If you can, go for it, but if not, let it go!
- Break your goal down in to smaller more achievable steps. You are going to feel overwhelmed with the idea of running a marathon, but if you can break it down into smaller steps you may actually be able to see yourself getting somewhere. I suggest breaking down your goal into three to five attainable steps that you can see yourself achieving. For example if you want to run a marathon break it down into: joining a gym, working out 5 days a week, run a 5K, run a 10K, and finally run the marathon. Make sure that you write these down and put them on a timeline as well!!! Give yourself a date that you are going to get these steps done by!
- Accountability. This word alone is enough to make some people cringe. However, studies have shown that when we have someone or something to hold us accountable we have a much better chance of achieving our goals. I recommend that people have an accountability partner. This can be a spouse, friend, co-worker, or therapist who is going to check in with you on the status of your achievements toward your goal. Remember this person should be positive, not negative. Make sure that you are clear in telling them what you need from them and what you don’t need. For example, you don’t need someone telling you that your pants are too tight! You need someone who will provide you with encouragement and support.
Now let’s hear everyone’s goal of the New Year!!
http://www.statisticbrain.com/new-years-resolution-statistics/
