How To Make and Keep Your New Years Resolutions

New Year’s Resolutions - Everyone is talking about them and thinking about them. Well it’s time to break the mold and actually get results that stick this time. NO Resolutions this year. Set your GOALS.  Have a Specific Plan, Accountability and a Never Fail Attitude. 

“It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up.”~
Vince Lombardi

So, how do we break the mold, set goals and stick to them?
Plan and Prepare. Set clear goals with realistic expectations.

“Coming together is the beginning; keeping together is
progress; working together is success.”~ Henry Ford

Top New Years Resolutions:

1. Lose weight

“Winning is a habit. Unfortunately so is losing.” ~ Vince Lombardi

At the beginning of each New Year, we begin thinking about making and
keeping a new year’s resolution, only to find within a short period of time
we hit a road block and fall off track and usually stay off track until the
beginning of the next week or month.

The top New Year’s resolutions rarely change from one year to the next.
Unrealistic resolutions are doomed to fail from the start, usually due to lack
of motivation or not being specific enough. Sometimes being too ambitious our
new year’s resolutions that can be bad for our health, bringing on stress,
anxiety, hopelessness and even depression.

To Do:  SET 3 SPECIFIC GOALS.

Example: Lose 15 pounds, Body Fat 17%, Size 29 Jeans.

Goal Setting

Forget about New Year’s resolutions and start focusing on goal setting. What
is goal setting? Goal setting is a process that allows us to specify and work
towards our objectives.

The importance of setting goals that are challenging, tangible, specific,
and realistic and have a target date cannot be overemphasized.

Some of us don’t know how to set goals or achieve a goal that we have
already made, so when we decide on setting a goal of one kind or another, each
goal is quickly given up on until new years resolution conversations begin all
over again.

“Failure to prepare is preparing to fail.” ~ John Wooden

How to Set Goals

What are your goals to set? Are they short term goals, long term goals, or
both? Are they personal goals, career goals or vague life goals? Effective goals
are very specific and measurable, involving goal setting motivation, while very
vague goals such as “I want to lose weight” or, “I want to be the best person I
can be” are not specific enough to help you in achieving goals in the short
term or long term.

Short-term goals appear to have the greatest motivational effects for
change. I suggest setting goals that you want to accomplish within 3
months. 

To Do: SET THE DATE YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE YOUR GOAL.
Example: Accomplish my goal by March 1^st.

Find your motivation through goal setting involves understanding why you
want or need x,y,z in your life and what the goal means to you personally or
professionally, thereby giving you the needed power and motivation to
accomplish your goals once and for all.

S.M.A.R.T Goals

“Smart goals” stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-bound.

Write down your goals and track them being very specific with each and every
goal you plan to accomplish.

Specific – your goal should answer the What, Where, Why and How questions, written as simply and clearly as possible. Use action words to explain WHAT are you going to do? WHY is this goal important? HOW are you going to do it, etc?

Measurable – If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. Choose a goal with measurable progress so you can actually see the changes you are making, otherwise how will you know when you have reached your goal?

Attainable – an attainable, agreed upon, achievable goal involves realistic goals that consider your current situation, financial and personal resources, as well as time available to achieve success. Set your goal to challenge and “stretch” you
slightly, but don’t go too far out of your reach setting unattainable goals,
otherwise you’ll become discouraged and give up, again.

Realistic – a realistic goal is a goal you can control and achieve, requiring effort on your part, a positive mindset, positive action, determination and consistency that will enable you to achieve and accomplish goals you set. Each time you achieve a goal; enjoy the satisfaction that goes with goal achievement, rewarding
yourself appropriately.

Time-bound – a time-bound goal includes realistic time-frames, using dates and times as measurement towards successful completion of each goal. Setting a time frame for goals set gives you a clear and precise target to work towards. Without a set time limit, your commitment is too vague, open-ended, lacking a sense of
urgency to take action now to accomplish goals.

Make a New Year’s resolution to NOT make New Year’s resolutions ever again.
Instead, set goals that are not only reasonable and realistic, but measurable
and attainable so that your current goals and any new goals can be accomplished
once and for all.

“Good resolutions are simply checks that men draw on a bank where they
have no account.”  ~ Oscar Wilde