Did you know that fewer than 2% of people actually follow through on their New Year's resolutions? Yes, it is true. You are not alone in making a long list of things you have every intention of doing each January -- and then falling off the wagon sometime between the first day of the year and mid-March.
I wish I could, but I cannot guarantee you that this will not happen in 2012. But, what I can do is give you 5 easy ways to give yourself an extra boost toward accomplishing the goals you set for yourself over the next 12 months.
1. Weekly Power Half-Hour
2. List of 3
3. Inspiration
4. Buddy Up
5. Lock It In
Weekly Power Half-Hour
You can set yourself up to succeed by simply setting aside a half-hour to an hour on Sunday evenings and, rather than vegging out in front of the tube, use that time to map out the key steps you need to take to achieve your goals in the coming week. There are 3 basic steps to this ritual:
- Remind yourself of your key goals and, more importantly, why attaining them is so important to you. Write them down once on an index card and then refer to the card in the weeks to come.
- Look back on your previous week and pat yourself on the back for any progress you made toward your goal (big or small). Recognizing your small successes is incredibly important because it keeps you motivated to continue on your path.
- Look ahead at the week to come and map out what you need to do and when. If your goal is to lose weight, schedule in your workouts and even think ahead to what kind of workouts you want to do. If your goal is to save money, make sure your meal plan is in place for the week.
List of 3
Limit the number of resolutions you make to no more than 3. This is important because a lot of people get ambitious on December 31st and come up with a laundry list of things they’d like to change. That’s all well and good, but your chances of success will go up if you focus on only a few. Especially given the hectic pace of life today, there is only so much mental and physical bandwidth to go around.
Inspiration
Sometimes there is nothing like a little visual cue or two to get or keep you inspired. It’s not very hard to put your own together quickly. Use a small 5 x 7” paper photo album to display the images you’ve selected. Use one per goal, or one goal per page, whatever works for you. Alternatively, keep a virtual board. Change the wallpaper on your computer to an image that inspires you to stick with it, or create your very own pinboard (or three) on Pinterest.com so that you have drool-worthy images related to your goal to turn to in moments of weakness.
Buddy Up
Whether it’s someone you know who wants to get organized or lose weight, find a friend who will help you keep your resolutions. We suggest this often for how to stick to getting organized, and it works just as well for keeping your New Year's resolutions. Meet to kick off your plan, then check back 4–5 weeks later, when most people quit. Also, plan a weekly check-in by phone, email, etc., and report to each other what you’ve accomplished. It keeps you focused and feeling successful.
Lock It In
What you commit to and write down gets done. This is certainly true for resolutions. Once you have your list of resolutions, think about how you can publicly let people know what you are committing to. You can post your goals as your status on Facebook or even try a site like Accompl.sh. With Accompl.sh, you publish your resolutions to the site and then you can share them publicly and track your progress. My resolutions are already locked in there for 2012.
The new year is a great time to reassess what you want to change and improve in your life. The best way to do that is focus on a few things, have an action plan and inspiration for yourself, and get support to help you when you just want to give up. Try the steps above and by mid-year you will be so proud of all you have accomplished.
How do you ensure you'll succeed in keeping your New Year's Resolutions or accomplish your goals? Please share your best tips in the comments below.
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Love these ideas! One strategy that has worked for me is to just ask myself to do my goal for 10 minutes a day. This helps keep it top of mind every day (even on days I've missed, I'm thinking about it). It also helps make it manageable -- the days that I dread or fear doing it, I know I don't have to do it for long. And once I get started it's usually not so bad. And 10 minutes takes the pressure off -- I don't have to accomplish something huge -- just getting in there at least moves the goal along...
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