It’s that time if the year again – where we take stock of the ending year, and make plans for the coming one. The later is always easier to fathom than the former, because, true to form, and as it was the previous year, many realize they didn’t keep most of their resolutions and barely scratched half of their goals.
To put it simply, it is easier to make new year resolutions than it is to keep it. So how to make sure you actually keep your resolutions and achieve your aims for the new year is as important as having a resolutions.
There are simple steps that can be taken to make sure your new year resolutions are not just another sentence in a piece of paper that ultimately hold little water in the end. Here are some of them.
Make it easy. Don’t try to go from 0km to 180km in a second, unless you are an F1 car. You have to make sure your resolutions are actually achievable and not something almost impossible. Learn to take incremental steps that are measurable and consistent. Example, a person that smokes 10 packs of cigarettes per day is better off setting a resolution that decreases the intake by two packs per day, and then take it from there later, than just trying to stop smoking altogether from January of the new year. Remember, you don’t have to go fast, you only have to go.
Keep Track: One of the major mistakes people make is to only check for progress at the end of the year. Make sure you keep track of your resolutions and progress every month. People who monitor behavior tend to do much better than those that don’t. What this does is that is gives you real time feedback, which in turn can be used to make better decisions going forward. You know what works and what should be discarded.
Be aware of your loopholes and excuses: This is vital and cuts to the chase. Always be aware of what is stopping you from reaching your goals and what sort of excuses surface whenever you are about to do something that takes you a step further to attaining your resolutions. If your resolution is to write a book next year, what excuses do you give yourself in lieu of you sitting down to write. Knowing what they are makes such excuses a little less powerful.
Be compassionate: Stop with the self-criticisms. It doesn’t help and only decreases your morale and self worth. Love yourself and don’t be too hard on yourself even when you are failing at your goals. Self-criticism only leads to low motivations. it never helps. Being supportive is the opposite. It ,makes your mind fresh, and enhances motivation.