It’s the new year and time to make those resolutions like we always do. Money we’re going to make, habits we’re going to break, love we’re going to find, pounds we’re going to lose.
You know. The usual.
But this year is going to be different, isn’t it? That’s what you’re telling yourself.
“New year, new me.”
Here’s what I say about that:
I believe you. Why? Because I believe in you.
Change can be hard and me being negative won’t help you, so who am I to rain on your parade?
Just a few things that may help you stay strong and be consistent through the year:
Set goals instead of resolutions
Resolutions are like dreams or wishes that can be easily dismissed. They’re formless and hard to quantify. Saying things like “I’m going to lose weight this year!” won’t produce much as far as results.
“Weight” can mean one pound or a hundred. Without a number to hit you won’t have a way to measure whether you’ve been successful or not.
Without measurable results that can be tracked it’s way too easy to just let your resolutions slip your mind. By March you’ll forget what you were so excited about when the ball dropped.
Instead of wishy washy resolutions, you need to set real goals. Brian Tracy likes to say that a goal is “a dream with a deadline.”
I know you’ve heard this before but your goals need to be SMART to be effective:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable
- Relevant
- Time-based
Set a specific goal that can be measured, that’s doable within a reasonable timeframe, that actually matters to you, and has a deadline.
Aim upwards higher, fall forwards further
Maybe the reason you’ve failed at stuff before was because your goals weren’t big enough.
Either your previous goals were so easy that you got bored quickly or they were too small to excite you.
Stop worrying about your goals being so high and you miss them.
Start worrying about your goals being too low and you hit them.
(Think I heard Les Brown say something like that. Or I’m just really smart. Oh well.)
Stop worrying about your goals being so high and you miss them.Start worrying about your goals being too low and you hit them. Click To TweetSet bigger goals. Goals that will excite you and/ or scare you.
Goals that will make a difference if you actually hit them. Life-changing stuff.
Aim high. Even if you come up short you’ll be further along than you were before.
If you aim to double your income by year’s end but only get halfway there then you still win.
Who’s going to argue about getting a 50% raise in a year? Who wouldn’t like “failing” to a 50% increase? Most people get 2% raises at their job.
Get an accountability partner or group
It’s easy to ignore a goal and pretend that it never existed when no-one else knows about it. Then you can pretend that it never mattered to you anyway and just forget about it without feeling guilty.
Also, when no-one else knows your goals then it’s easier to forget about them. And your motivation will be tested.
What you need is someone (or someones) to hold you accountable. Someone who will remind you about your goal and ask if you hit your target for the day.
Someone who will challenge you for not doing what you said you would do.
One idea that I’ve seen is posting your intentions on social media for the world to see. That way you keep working just to avoid public shame.
If you have a friend that cares about you then they will gladly check in with you on a regular basis to keep you on track.
This especially works with a friend that’s working towards the same or similar goal. You keep each other going. That’s why it’s easier to stay consistent and keep getting gains in the gym when you have a workout buddy.
Bring it all together
If you want to get better results this year then change your approach.
Set goals, not resolutions. Set bigger goals. Get an accountability partner.
Do these things and you’ll have a better year than ever before.
