I have a hot topic to you today on how to make your New Year Resolutions stick. You may be from the camp that I used to sit in, where you say to yourself, “I don’t make resolutions because they don’t work.” Do you feel that way? If you do, then I’m going to challenge you a little bit.
I used to not make resolutions because I was nervous I was going to fail at them. So, until I really started diving deep into how goal setting works and how to really go after a goal, even if it seems lofty or large, or really unattainable until I really dove in and figured out how goal setting actually works, I wasn’t brave enough to take the steps to make those huge, seemingly impossible goals but I’m going to let you in on a secret, people with written goals achieve way more than if not written
Have you heard the saying, a goal not written down is just a dream? It is so true, because you can’t really go after something if it is not clearly defined.Here are a few tips I have for you for making your New Year Resolutions stick. Your goal needs to be as clearly defined as possible, meaning you’ve thought about it and brainstormed about it. Brainstorm all the things you are thinking about with regards to what you want to accomplish. Write it all down, often times you aren’t quite sure what it is you really want until you start writing everything out. Think about what you don’t want, a lot of times this will help you really figure out what it is you DO want
Once you figure out what it is you really want, I want you to think about how it will feel once you achieve it. Explore why you want it, how it will make feel, and if you were to achieve it/obtain it will it be a long term benefit for you and your family. This exercise really helps you clearly define and state what you really want. It helps your brain move in the direction of what you really want and what needs to be done. So much of what we do comes from our subconscious, so it is important to put our subconscious mind to work for us and not against us.
Define what you want and what you don’t want, why you want it and then how it is going to make you feel. To help you with this I have an acronym that makes it easy for you to define a SMART goal. The acronym SMART lays out certain ideas that will make your goal more achievable.
S (Specific) The more specific you can make your goal the easier it will be to achieve it.
M (Measurable) There needs to be some type of number associated with it that can be measured. For example, if you want to pay off debt, you need to know the number amount in order to be able to track your progress.
A (Action-Oriented) You need to be able to list the action steps needed to reach goal.
R (Realistic) Is it a realistic goal for you to be working towards?
T (Time Bound) There needs to be a time limit on when you reach your goal. If you don’t have a time where you want to reach your goal by, it’s less likely you will achieve it.
