Soon you’ll be thinking about New Year’s Resolutions…
The start of the New Year is often the perfect time to turn a new page in your life, which is why so many people make New Year's resolutions. But why do so many resolutions fail?
Well for starters, is it just coincidence that the most common New Year’s resolutions are to lose weight, get out of debt and drink less are all related to what we indulge in at the holidays? Probably not!
New Year is a time of renewal, of turning the page and perhaps a fresh start. That probably compels us to consider what aspects of our life need change. And then usually quite casually and without a real commitment we make a “wish” to improve and get better.
Resolutions are really about changing habits. About adopting new ways of behaving and thinking. And that requires commitment. And if we are going to commit, we have to know why it matters. “Without an adequate answer to the question ‘WHY?’ any price is too high”
So, if you're going to make New Year's resolutions, here's some tips to help you make them work:
- Focus on one resolution, rather several;
- Set realistic, specific goals. Losing weight is not a specific goal. Losing 10 pounds in 90 days would be;
- Don't wait till New Year's Eve to make resolutions. Make it a yearlong process, every day;
- Take small steps. Many people quit because the goal is too big requiring too big a step all at once;
- Have an accountability buddy, someone close to you that you have to report to;
- Celebrate your success between milestones. Don't wait the goal to be finally completed;
- Focus your thinking on new behaviors and thought patterns. You have to create new neural pathways in your brain to change habits;
- Focus on the present. What's the one thing you can do today, right now, towards your goal?
- Make your goal about what you want to become, not about what you are getting away from.
Remember Be x Do = Have.
So for example: If your goal is to get to your ideal weight. Your “have” is your ideal weight. Then what must you “do” in order to get to that weight and who must you “be”-come (what kind of human being) who lives at their ideal weight.
Perhaps that will help you think about the improved you in 2015!
