For New Years Resolutions–The Importance of How You’re Going to Get There

For New Years Resolutions–The Importance of How You’re Going to Get There

When you focus on a goal, it’s natural to focus on all of the enjoyment, pride, or even bragging rights you’ll get from reaching that goal. For New Years Resolutions (the yearly standard for goal setting), the glory of reaching the goal is what most of us focus on.

If there is so much glory for reaching a goal, then why do so few of us actually reach these goals? There are several reasons, but one of the biggest is that most of us focus onwhat the goal is rather than onhowwe’ll actually reach this goal.

Unfortunately, focusing on how you’ll reach your goal isn’t going to be nearly as fun as thinking about the glorious outcome. Long-term plans take a lot of little steps and planning. Day-by-day, what kinds of things are you gong to change in your life to reach your goals. Big changes very rarely occur from one big, major shift in your life.

Here are some tips to help you stick with your plan so that you can make a lasting change.

1. Know why you’re making this change.Unfortunately, many of the New Years Resolutions that are made are made to stick with the social tradition rather than focused on values. This usually makes them rather meaningless, and guess what happens with meaningless goals?! Instead, it’s best to focus on what you value. Know why this change is important to you and you’ll be much more likely to stick with it.
2. What day-by-day changes will help you reach your long-term goal?Changes require you to make everyday changes. Little by little, you have to establish a plan. You’ll have to amend this plan as you go along. Therefore, those daily behaviors and practices will need to be used to identify how successful they are. Then you can identify where you need to refocus your attention.
3. Identify what you’ll do when you have set backs.If you’re making a real lasting change, you’ll experience setbacks at some point. Look for those in your life who will support you while you’re making your change. Also, practice self-kindness during these times. The truth is that you’ll likely learn some great lessons from these set backs.
4. Celebrate small achievements. A lasting goal achievement is usually not one thing. Instead, it tends to be several small goal achievements stacked on top of each other. The end goal may actually shift. It usually does when you’re making a true commitment. So appreciate the journey and all that it brings.

Overall, the main thing is to build a plan that you can put into place on a very regular basis. Be prepared to change this plan.

Have a happy and safe New Years celebration.