How to Make Resolutions That Will Stick In 2018
The majority of us like to make resolutions every new year, but if you’re like me and most of us, you want to be in better shape, begin healthy eating, and start exercising. Maybe your goals are to lose weight, save more money, be happy, and advance your career? Sadly, only 8% of people are successful in sticking to their resolutions.¹ If you want to be in this top crop of people, use these techniques to make resolutions that stick.
One Resolution at a Time
We possess limited willpower, and it is overwhelming to make multiple resolutions work at the same time.² If you want to achieve your goal and stay on track, stick to one thing, make it happen, and move on to the next.³ Pick just one area to begin in, and then give yourself a month to make the habit stick.² Practice the habit every day without fail, paying attention to the little steps of action that will propel forward in achieving your bigger goal.
Start Small. Start Somewhere.
You don’t climb an entire mountain in a day. Losing weight is too broad a resolution, and equally, you can't lose all the weight in a month. Set a small and attainable goal for a start. Start with a manageable figure and work upward.³ Once you can follow through and it becomes a habit, then you can set more significant target; likewise, you can’t start by going to the gym for two hours every day. It is wise to start with 30 minutes every other day, and then, improve on that habit to daily.¹
Set Smart Goals
You must set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time bound targets. If you want to lose weight, there are many things that are involved. What exactly does it mean to you to lose weight? Is it weighing fewer pounds or fitting into a particular dress size? Figure out what exactly you want to do. Say you want to lose ten pounds in a months’ time; find steps that can drive you to achieve that. Plan your meals in advance, pay for a gym membership, and go three times a week.
Have a Strong Why
Having a strong why makes it easy to change your habits. Why gives you the motivation to stick to your goals even with adversity and challenges. A strong why will keep you going even when you want to quit. Resolve to change a lousy habit, because you want to improve the quality of your life. Don‘t set resolutions just because your friends are. Don’t set resolutions that people think you should set. Be honest with yourself, and choose what you feel you want to change. That way the motivation will come from within.
Make a Monetary Incentive
Decide on the value of money you will pay if you don’t go to the gym. You could give the money to a friend, donate to a charity, or send to a friend who has achieved his or her goal. The reward will encourage you to go through with it: a movie, ice cream, or whatever makes you happy.² It is easy to be hard on yourself when you don’t achieve your goal than to celebrate when you succeed. Make an effort to celebrate when you succeed and pay yourself the reward.³ Apply this tactic to any resolution and see it work.
Expect Obstacles and Accept Failure
List the potential challenges that may hinder you from following through with your plan, and then, come up with solutions to those obstacles. If you find it difficult to get out of bed and you keep hitting the snooze button, keep it on the other side of the room so you’re forced to wake up and turn it off.
Don’t forget to remove all triggers, like junk foods in your pantry, and replace them with healthier foods, like fruits and vegetables.³ In any event that you lose track, don’t give up. Don't beat yourself up. Instead, tell yourself it’s just a bad day at the office, and tomorrow you’ll do better. Analyze the triggers that caused the setback and learn from them. If you’re going out with friends is the trigger for drinking alcohol, minimize that interaction.²
Have an Accountability Partner
Share your resolutions with your family and friends. You can also share on social media to make yourself accountable to your goal.³ Or, you can join a group of people who have the same goal as you for accountability and support. When you share your success and struggle with others, the journey to your dreams seems less daunting. You can remain inspired, dedicated, and committed.¹ Get out of your comfort zone, and get support from other people with the similar goals.
Track your progress
Keeping a log to make your resolutions stick. Once you have your specific goal and action plan, track your daily progress.² When you monitor your performance, it becomes more likely that you’ll achieve your goals, and the feedback you get encourages you to keep going.
If you set a financial goal to save a certain amount every day, every time you see the bank balance grow is a tremendous motivating factor. The feeling of the ticking off your list will prompt you to set even bigger goals.¹ You have all it takes to achieve it. All you need to decide what you want, take action, and don’t stop until you follow through with it.
Happy New Year from Mother Earth Products.
References
- Branden Evans
Comments 0