Welcome to a brand new year, the time where people decide to make a fresh start and what better time to do that than the beginning of a brand new calendar year. We all make them and so do I but many people break them and many resolutions fall by the wayside by February and that is completely understandable. Though since I switched from making unrealistic resolutions to setting myself targets, I have seen my success rate at sticking to these go up drastically. For me, I mainly make targets based on my weight/health, my career and building on issues I have such as low self confidence and self esteem, they are all things that are big uphill struggles and are clearly going to take a long time to tackle completely but by setting myself a target every year I see success every year, I can see how far I have come over 12 months and that spurs me on to go even further over the course of the next year.
I’m not perfect though and I do still break resolutions at times but from what I’ve learnt over the past couple of years I thought I would share with any of you looking to make some changes to your life but unsure whether the whole New Year’s resolutions will work for you. I have 5 points that I think sums up how you should go about it and I hope these steps help you to make some targets or plans for this coming year that will really help you.
1) No Unrealistic Expectations
Quite frankly if you make unrealistic expectations then you will fail and that will do nothing for your morale, it will make you feel a hell of a lot worse than you did before and that is definitely not a good thing and something you really don’t want to achieve after setting your goals for the new year. Things like lose 10 stone this year, make a million pounds, become famous, patent a brand new idea etc, are probably not going to happen over the course of 12 months. They could happen but realistically it would be difficult and though I don’t want to stagnate your imagination, there does need to be some form of realism going into your resolutions.
2) Make a List of Key Things You Want to Change/Tackle
Before you even make any resolutions or set out any targets, you need to make a list of the keys areas of your life you want to change or work on. Maybe you want to change your weight, your hairstyle, your eating habits, the amount you drink etc or maybe you want to work on quitting smoking, your career, your family life, friendships or your relationship. It could be just one thing or a combination of a few but once you have figured out the things you want to change or work on then you can make targets or plans to tackle those specific things.
3) Have a Mix of Big and Small Challenges
Personally, I think the best way to make changes and make resolutions you will stick to is to set a mix of big and small challenges for yourself. Things such as losing weight, quitting smoking, furthering your career are plans that take time and will be something you constantly work on over the course of the year and beyond but setting small challenges alongside such as changing your hairstyle, finish decorating a room, putting together a portfolio of your work are things you can do over the course of a day, week, month etc. These easier to achieve tasks will keep your morale up and give you something to show over the weeks and months for your resolutions and a reason to celebrate your successes whilst working on the bigger, more difficult to achieve tasks too.
4) Make a Plan/List
First of all, make a list of the resolutions you’ve chosen for 2015 and keep it handy ready to tick off or keep as a reminder through the year. Also, make a plan for the points on your list, when it comes to something like furthering your career it would be good to think about ways you could do it, things you should be doing more of and areas you need to improve so you can see them there and then tackle them head on. Having a plan really helps with bigger resolutions giving you something to work towards throughout the year to get to where you want to be by the end of the 12 months.
5) Keep Track and Celebrate the Successes
As I’ve said before making lists and putting together plans gives you a way to keep track on your progress throughout the year, you can tick off targets and plans as you showing you just how far you have come. Something which is always a good thing especially on bad days when you feel like you are not achieving anything at all. When you see those successes right there in front of you, you can celebrate them and honestly I think you should. If you’ve gone a month without a cigarette, if you’ve lost 6 pounds this month, if you’ve got a promotion, if you’ve made more of an effort to see friends, whatever it is big or small make sure you celebrate it in whatever you can. Treats and celebrations are a good thing to keep you motivated especially when you have done the work to deserve them.
However, if you fail don’t get down about it, pick yourself up and try again. You will eventually get there in the end, we all have many failed attempts at things in life before succeeding.
So those are my tips on how to make New Year’s resolutions you will stick to, I hope they help and good luck with your resolutions for 2015.
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