As each new year begins, we instinctively turn towards thoughts of improvement, resolution, and change.
Folks take the turning of the calendar page as an opportunity to improve themselves and their lives. They eagerly await the tolling of midnight to signal some arbitrary starting point to their newest resolution, to challenge their biggest weaknesses, and focus on their most important goals.
But – do resolutions actually work?
The internet is full of jokes about the first day of the new year at the local gym and the influx of people who crowd the treadmills, comparing it to the desolate wasteland supposedly found three months later.
Internet memes and jokes would have you believe that resolutions are pointless efforts into a dreamland that never becomes reality.
But is this the case? Are resolutions a complete waste of time? Or are they an opportunity to accomplish great things?
Do resolutions work?
They can. If you do them right.
Resolutions are nothing more than goals that we set for ourselves.
And Goals – when set correctly, can have profound benefits.
Here are 5 simple tips to make sure that your Resolutions, your goals for the upcoming year, have the greatest chance for success.
1. Make sure you choose your goals.
Read this correctly – make sure YOU choose YOUR goals.
Quitting smoking and losing weight are great goals – but if you are doing it because your wife hates the smell of cigarettes or if you are doing it because your doctor thinks you should, it won’t be intrinsically motivating.
YOU need to want the change. YOU must want to achieve this for YOU.
2. Be specific. Make it is measurable.
Getting healthier is important – but how do you know when you have achieved it?
What does success look like to you?
Losing 30 lbs? Running a marathon? Decreasing your Hgb A1C by 3 points? Saving $5,000? Enrolling in a Graduate Program?
These are specific goals. These are black or white – you achieved them or you didn’t.
They are measurable, which means they can be broken down into steps and completed incrementally.
3. Write them down.
Yes, you must write them down.
If you plan on investing time and effort into accomplishing these goals, then you should have no problem taking the time to write them down and plan effectively.
Write them down – then put them somewhere where you will see them – every day.
This can be anywhere that works for you – the fridge, your agenda, your vision board, your desk drawer, your screensaver.
You choose what works best for you.
But keeping them where you will see them ensures that you will not forget.
It helps refuel your motivation and reminds you of the steps you still need to take.
4. Break them down into steps.
Running a marathon?
You could:
• Download an app to help get you started, like Couch to 5K.
• Start running twice a week.
• Run your first mile.
• Add 0.25 miles of distance every week.
• Sign up for your first 5K.
• And on and on….
Each step becomes an achievable mini-goal.
It is much easier to run one mile than to think about running 26 – but once you have run 1 mile, then 2 doesn’t seem quite so hard.
You use these small goals to break down the obstacles and build on your successes.
This is true for anything you choose
Saving $5,000 may seem daunting – but saving $20 is achievable, almost easy.
Continue saving those $20 until you reach your $5,000.
5. Celebrate your successes.
Each step in your breakdown, each mini-goal, is a victory.
Celebrate it – relish it – embrace it.
It will create a thirst for success, for repetition, for reward, for victory.
Success is a habit and each new step makes the upcoming challenges seem realistic, attainable, and natural.
As you check off these tasks and goals, you will naturally find yourself planning bigger and better things – and achieving them.
One success leads to another – and, like a domino effect, it creates a life of accomplishment and a habit of success.
So, yes, resolutions do work. They are as effective as any other goal planning.
They can and should be used to help you work towards your greater self.
Goals, self-development, and future planning are the basis of ongoing growth and evolution.
So, do it – plan it – and work your goals into reality.
