It seems like every year, people make New Year’s resolutions and have the best of intentions to follow through. Unfortunately, most of those resolutions fall through the cracks – many within just several weeks.
While some standard resolutions always seem to be about getting healthy, losing weight, or making better choices, it’s easy to “give up” if you don’t have effective ways to make them work.
It doesn’t matter what your resolutions are. What matters is why you’re making them and knowing how to effectively stick with them.
When you’re able to do that, you can turn your resolutions into realities.
So, how can you make your resolutions work effectively for you this year? Let’s go over some tips to keep in mind to achieve the results you’re looking for.
Understand Why You’re Making a Resolution
It’s easy to make flippant resolutions and goals of things you want to accomplish. But, when you don’t have a deep passion for those things, they are just as easy to forget about.
When you’re making your resolutions, think about why you’re making them. What really matters to you? Why is it important for you to accomplish this particular goal?
Having a deeper sense of “why” can help you stick with something, even when it isn’t easy, and even when you want to quit. This can also help you to whittle down your resolutions. That way, you can focus on one or two things that are important to you instead of a long list of things you’d like to see happen.
Create an Environment for Success
Your environment has just as much influence over the success of a resolution as your mindset. It’s easy to sabotage your goals when you’re in an environment that doesn’t encourage them.
For example, if your goal is to eat better this year, think about your daily environment. Is your kitchen filled with “junk” food? If your resolution is to get promoted at work, look at your office. Is it disorganized and unmotivating?
By changing your environment to work with your resolution, it becomes nearly impossible not to stick with it. Think about how your current environment can impact what you really want, and whether it’s time to make a change.
Don’t Give Up After Failures
One of the biggest mistakes people make over New Year’s resolutions is giving up when they think they’ve “failed.” Maybe you had a bad day with your diet. Maybe you were unproductive at the office.
You’re human. Humans make mistakes.
There is no fine print to a resolution. There is no clause that suggests you have to do it perfectly. Some days will be better than others. And some days you may fail to do what you wanted to do. That doesn’t mean you’ve failed entirely, and it certainly doesn’t mean you need to give up on your goals.
Instead, look at your failures as learning opportunities. Let them motivate you to do more the next day.
When you adjust your ideas of what failure can be, you can use it to keep going forward rather than giving up so easily.
New Year’s resolutions are a great way to start the year off on the right foot. But don’t let yourself fall into the stereotype of letting those resolutions go after just a few weeks. Instead, make them work for you.
Establish resolutions that truly mean something to you and your future and stick with them. You’ll quickly be able to see the fruits of your labor and stay motivated throughout the year (and beyond!) to accomplish your goals. Then, you’ll be able to see the real value in resolutions, and you can make them throughout the year, not just in January.
