Who hasn’t woken up on New Year’s Day (or in a drunken stupor on New Years Eve) with the massive sense of starting the New Year off right and accomplish a life-long wanted task, need, or want? Unless you’re under the age of 13, you’ve probably committed yourself to such a New Year’s Resolution and broken it within the first week. It all comes down to how much self-discipline you have and how great the desire.
Can you do it this year? First of all, remember that it’s never too late to change . In those moments when you make a decision, you start to create a new future for yourself. The all important thing is to take action and do something different!
Now let’s get down to detail.
· Most New year’s resolutions are only ‘wish-lists’, there is no substance or plan behind them. That’s why they don’t last. They are often also far too wishy-washy. Vague resolutions are only good for one thing – to let you off the hook! Remember it’s the difference between saying ‘I want to start running’ to saying ‘I want to be able to run 10 miles each week’.
· Resolutions can be achieved if you take them seriously and create a clear plan to reach them. The word ‘plan’ can sound scary. It really just means what actions do you need to take to achieve your resolution? Actions can be small steps so long as you keep moving forwards towards your goal. Don’t set yourself up to fail by setting yourself unrealistic targets. For example, don’t say you’ll go to the gym every day unless you can achieve it!
· Make sure you set a timescale for your resolution as it’s easy to allow yourself off the hook. It’s the difference between saying ‘I want to lose weight’ and ‘I want to lose 7 pounds by the end of March 2011’. Get the idea?
· Keep going until your reach your target. It’s easy to give up too soon. If your resolution is important enough to you, you will keep your motivation levels. Persistence is important. If you’re not motivated enough it’s probably because you don’t want it enough! Ask yourself what will happen if you don’t achieve your resolution – if you’re not that bothered find something else!
· Be flexible – if you always do what you’ve always done you always get what you’ve always got. If something isn’t working do something different. For example, if you want to lose weight and your approach isn’t working then change it.
· Be prepared to take massive action to achieve your goal. Are you prepared to do whatever it takes to achieve your resolution? If not, then it’s not the right one. Massive action doesn’t have to be all at once but you do need to keep focused and keep going.
· Finally, take responsibility for what you want in your life. No more excuses and blaming everyone except yourself. When things go wrong learn from them. Focus on what you in your life, not on what you don’t want. Our brains can’t process negatives so if your New Year’s resolution is ‘I don’t want to be in debt’ your brain understands ‘I want to be in debt’ and so no wonder when you find it tough to make any money! Instead, focus on what specifically you want and enjoy the difference.
Remember ‘the only way to predict your future is to create it’.
