How to Make a New Year’s Resolution (that will succeed)
The new year is the time when many people take stock of the year they are leaving behind and start to think about the year ahead. This is the time of year when we resolve to do better. But sadly we often do not know how to make a New Year’s resolution that will succeed.
Sound familiar? I’ve already heard people say, “Starting in January I am going to….” I say, “GREAT!”
How do you make those ideas become reality and make your resolutions stick? Or maybe you aren’t planning to make a formal New Years resolution but you still think you need to change a few things. In any case, where do you start?
The Problem with New Year’s Resolutions
It’s common to struggle with keeping a New Year’s resolution. Experts tell us 80% fail within a month. Why? to make a successful new year’s resolution you must make a plan. In this article we will talk about the plan and in the next, New Year’s Resolutions II, we will discuss how to put the plan in motion.
The first big step in answering the question: How to make a new year’s resolution is to have a dream.
As this chart shows, a dream written down with a date becomes a goal. So what do you want your goal to be?
First think about where you are now in your life. Then think about where you want to be…
Turn a Dream into a Goal
1. Make a list of all the changes you want to make. For example: lose weight, exercise more, get organized, be more social, get a better job, eat better, save money, feel better about my self, read more… List all the aspirations you have for yourself. Put those dreams down on paper. You can have 5 or 25, it doesn’t matter.
2. Look over the list and pick out the three items that are your top priorities along with a date when you want to achieve each.
3. From your top three, identify the most important. That is the one you want to work on first.
Whatever goal you make, you have to be ready to make some changes. Therefore, acknowledge the things you will have to give up to deliver on your resolution. Obviously, you can’t decide to eat better without changing what and how you cook.
You will also need to be accountable. So keep in mind how your weaknesses will be a challenge. Then you can think about how to incorporate accountability into your plan. For instance, if losing weight is your goal, resolve to weigh yourself each week. If getting a better job is your goal, you will complete parts of your action plan each week.
Make Your Goals SMART
For a goal to be SMART it must be:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable
- Relevant
- Timely
Here is an example: “My goal is to lose 20 pounds in three months by changing my diet and increasing exercise. “
- Is it Specific?
- Is it Measurable?
- Is Achievable?
- Is it Relevant (to me)?
- Is there a Time limit?
Now you know how to make a new year’s resolution.
Don’t Let Your Resolutions Fail
Most resolutions fail because they aren’t specific enough and it’s easy to slide out of them. Other resolutions fail because they are filled with negative language. (“I want to stop being so disagreeable.”)
Try writing a goal statement. It must be specific, it must incorporate a time value, and it must be relevant to you, e.g. your goal can’t be to change someone else.
We have taken a dream, established our goal, decided on a plan. In the next article I will discuss how to incorporate the action steps you need in order to succeed in turning your dream into reality.
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