Stop! Don't Make That New Year's Resolution!?

Recently I read an interesting news article* about New Year’s resolutions. In it, a “goal and motivation expert” argued that we should forget about New Year’s resolutions because they don’t work. His argument was based on research that suggests that most people give up on their resolutions by the end of January and then can’t even remember what they were by June! For this reason, the article argues that our resolutions may not be worth the time and effort we put into them.

Fortunately, this article was not all depressing, as it also offered some unique suggestions on how we can increase our chances of actually accomplishing goals.

One of the biggest mistakes each of us makes when setting New Year’s resolutions is we often focus on something negative such as losing weight. Staring at a goal that focuses on something negative or something that may seem nearly impossible to us, can and may actually decrease our motivation to accomplish it. Instead, the article indicates our goals should be more positive such as living a healthy lifestyle. This may essentially be the same goal as losing weight, but because of the way it is worded it can empower and motivate us. The article also suggests it is much easier moving toward something such as creating a good habit rather than away from something such as giving up a bad one. Thus, when creating goals, we must focus on the positive!

The next suggestion from the article is to think about what life will be like when we accomplish the goal. If my goal is to become a millionaire this year, then I must imagine what that will be like, what it will feel like, and why it is my goal. Once we can envision what it will be like to reach our goal, the article suggests we should start acting like the goal is already a reality. Using our earlier example, I don’t believe this means I should go out and start spending hundreds of thousands of dollars, but instead I need to start making choices and decisions like a true successful millionaire would make. The article proposes that to help us accomplish our goal, we should try to start feeling, thinking, and acting like our goal is a reality.

The final suggestion from the article is we need to have a life plan based on our personal dreams—instead of simply making yearly resolutions. We must continually analyze what our big dreams are and how we plan to accomplish them. Indeed, our actions must be motivated by big dreams we truly believe we can achieve.

In the end, the article demands that we not only dream bigger but also that our dreams remain more positive. By doing this, we will be more successful in realizing our goals in life. My hope and wish is that each of us may have a prosperous, happy, and rewarding New Year full of success and big, positive goals!

*Article Source: http://www.statssheet.com/articles/article46645.html

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