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 in to them.
Fortunately, this article was not all depressing. In fact 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 of having a healthy lifestyle 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 and that may actually mean saving more. 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
Do Make that New Year's Resolution!
“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal.”
Thomas Jefferson
Last week I wrote about an article that suggested we should not make New Year’s resolutions, because the success rate of actually accomplishing the resolutions is extremely low. Though I agreed with much of what the author was explaining, I did disagree with the idea that setting resolutions is a waste of time. Though statistics show the success rate of actually following through with New Year’s resolutions is low, it does not mean everyone fails. Thus, if even a small percentage succeeds, to me, it is worth the effort!
Being among those who succeed in achieving New Year’s resolutions really comes down to a choice. Do we have the discipline to set goals and then really strive to achieve them each day? Do we believe we can accomplish our resolutions despite the research that indicates most don’t? Each day this year we have the opportunity to choose to accomplish our resolutions or not, regardless of what the majority of others may be doing. Though it will not be easy, we can be different! I truly believe that despite the research, each of us has the capacity to carry out our New Year’s goals. To help us achieve our resolutions this year, I have three simple strategies that will ensure success in working towards our goals for 20[15].
#1 Plan
First, we must have a plan or a vision for accomplishing our goals. As the old adage goes, “failing to plan, is planning to fail.” As we prepare to establish New Year’s resolutions we must come up with a plan on how we will go about accomplishing them. Often people fail from the beginning; because they set a goal, but they do not plan how they will accomplish it. Think about what steps you will take, what help you will we need, what time you will set aside, what changes you will need to make immediately in your life to be successful. Planning ahead and thinking about what accomplishing a certain goal will require will help us to set good, achievable resolutions this year. Determining how we will track our progress on a daily basis is also an important part of a plan. (There are many simple, easy, and great tools that can help you track your goals. For an example, please see http://www.joesgoals.com.) In the end, when we establish a plan along with a goal, our potential to succeed quickly rises.
#2 Effort
Hopefully this is stating the obvious but if we are to be successful in accomplishing our New Year’s resolutions, then we must be willing to put forth effort. It is not enough to simply want to make an effort, we must actually make the effort! We must remember it is in the doing and not just the planning in which we accomplish our goals. This means starting today and then continuing each day thereafter to put forth some effort. There will undoubtedly come hard times when it may seem impossible to accomplish our goals, but this is when we must put forth extra effort to ensure success. Though putting forth effort is not always fun and easy, it will be worth it in the end. Giving our best effort will allow us to be successful.
#3 Faith
Finally, we must have the confidence and faith in ourselves that we can accomplish our goals. We cannot allow opposition or setbacks to overwhelm us, but instead we need to go to work each day with the faith that we will succeed. We can also expect ups and downs during the year, but as long as we keep hoping and believing, we will succeed. Truly learning to believe in ourselves and in our ability to accomplish great things, will significantly increase our ability to obtain our goals.
Though many will allow New Year’s resolutions to fall to the way-side, we don’t have to! With a plan, some effort, and a lot of faith, we can and will be among those who actually accomplish their goals this year. Let’s not follow the crowds or the traditional trends, let’s be different—let’s accomplish our goals this year!
No comments:
Post a Comment