If you really want to make successful New Year’s resolutions be sure to follow these seven steps.
People have made New Year’s resolutions since ancient times. Still, every year millions of people fail to follow through on them. For example, US News reports an 80 percent failure rate by mid-February.
If you want to sustain your resolutions to meet your goals. Follow these seven steps for constructing and implementing your resolutions.
7 Steps to Successfully Fulfill Your New Year’s Resolutions
1. Be Realistic:
An overly optimistic intention will typically cause a New Year’s resolution to fail. Sadly these unrealistic expectations breed overconfidence and a cavalier indifference to potential challenges. Resolutions, especially those you make repeatedly year after year, are by definition hard to keep.
Heed these signs and instead commit to smaller goals. Alternatively, make a series of easier resolutions corresponding to a sequence of benchmarks toward your ultimate goal, and celebrate the attainment of each as a success. And, if you don’t fulfill the entire sequence, don’t despair. Maintain the gain, and start from this point next year.
2. Create Positive, Clear, and Specific Resolutions
Achievable resolutions possess three key characteristics. They are positive, clear, and specific. When they meet these criteria, the end goal is clearer and the path to fulfillment is easier to discern.
Unfortunately, most resolutions are stated in negative terms such as I’ll stop eating ice cream, or stop staying up past 11:00 PM. Negations such as these act as inhibitors. Plus they inherently translate into a loss and/or punishment. Subsequently, and quite naturally, you feel the deprivation and pain, which makes your craving for what was withheld even stronger.
To remedy this disastrous progression, make your resolution positive as well as clear, and specific. For example, I’ll go to bed at 10:00 PM so I’m rested and have more time in the morning.
Then open your awareness and receptivity to opportunities that support this intention. Energetically, intentions specified this way are more apt to entrain with supportive energies (think co-create or “law of attraction”).
3. Create Plan and How You’ll Monitor Progress
Make sure you create a basic implementation plan and monitoring mechanism. To do this outline any steps you need to take to ensure your success. Determine how you’ll monitor progress and celebrate achievements. Account for potential challenges that may arise and how they’ll overcome them. Consider what you may have to give up and identify what you could gain in its stead. For example, if you want to cut down on the time you spend online streaming shows, make a list of pastimes you’ve neglected and will resurrect.
A growing body of research and literature suggests significant benefits arise from acknowledging your accomplishments with expressions of gratitude. Embracing success releases endorphins (reward hormones), boosts motivation, and galvanizes the change process. You release stress and anxiety and improve your mood and outlook. In turn, this fosters optimism, reinforces commitment, and sustains your progress toward success (Harvard Business Review, Psychology Today, Inc, Gambo).
4. Embody Your Desired Change
The actualization of intentions requires more than a simple statement of intent. In addition, galvanize them with the power and alignment of focus, embodiment, and commitment.
You can visualize and embody the results you want (see my blog for more on the importance of embodiment and embodied awareness. This is less about plans and action steps and more about being your desired result.
It might sound silly, but to take on the posture, mindset, and the whole shape of who you want to be. And, how you are on the inside and out creates the biophysical and biochemical states as well as the neurological networks that correspond to that new desired way of being.
5. Create Rewards For Progress and Success
Milestones are akin to mini-resolutions that collectively or progressively fulfill your ultimate resolution. When it’s difficult to break a particularly tenacious habit, your rewards can make all the difference. In addition, these millstones are invaluable when the change process drags on slowly toward a painfully distant end goal.
6. Be Compassionate and Tolerant
Slip-ups should be anticipated but not preordained. You want to avoid them, but should they occur, show yourself tolerance and compassion. Judgment and strong self-reproach can bring the change process to a screeching halt upon the first infraction.
7. Get Support
You may feel you don’t want or need support. But consider the benefits of support or mutual companioning. Going it alone can be difficult. If nothing else, reflect on when the going gets tough, and who can turn to for solace and commiseration. In other words, create a contingency plan.
In sum, if want to sustainably fulfill your New Year’s resolutions take these seven steps for successful resolutions. Make sure to design your plan before the Times Square ball drops.
For More On Setting and Fulfilling Successful New Year’s Resolutions, See:
- My Mind Body Spirit blog, especially:
- My spiritual life coaching sessions
