Lyndsey Make your new years resolutions count! Tips and tricks on how to make new years resolutions you will follow through with.
If you are anything like me, or arguably, like a majority of the population, you have likely made a new years resolution or two (or 100) that you haven’t followed through with. Every new years many people start thinking and planning for the year ahead. What can I do better this year? What goals do I have for the upcoming year? What would I like to achieve, or what could make my life better? So we set new years resolutions for a fresh start to the new year. A “New Year, New Me” mentality. There is one very large problem with new years resolutions though, there is little to no follow through! So how do you make new years resolutions you will actually achieve?
Researchers suggest that only approximately 9% of Americans that have set new years resolutions actually complete them. Knowing this can make it very difficult to feel motivated to set or follow through with new years resolutions. But, what if I told you there was a key to making resolutions you will actually achieve? What if there were a few simple steps you could take to make sure your resolutions are easy to maintain? This year, let’s take our resolutions to the next level!
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How To Choose Your New Years Resolution
The first step in making new years resolutions you will actually achieve is selecting resolutions that are meaningful and make sense. There is no point in choosing resolutions that don’t mean something to you, or aren’t helping to achieve something you are interested in. Don’t look up generic resolutions. Of course researching ideas can never hurt, but your resolutions should come from your heart and soul. They should be meaningful, relevant to your current life, and practical to reach.
Additionally, the amount of resolutions you decide to set is very impactful to actually achieving them. Don’t set your self up for failure by setting too many resolutions. Goals and new habits take time to create and maintain. If you select too many at one time, or start too many at one time, you are much less likely to succeed. If you have a large amount of resolutions you would like to set, consider staggering when you plan to start them.
Common New Years Resolutions
- Saving Money
- Starting Investments
- Eating Healthier
- Loosing Weight
- Exercising
- Learn A New Skill
These may be popular new years resolution choices, but it doesn’t mean they are the right choice for you. Think about what you really want to get out of the upcoming year, and what goals will contribute to your overall plan. There are so many great choices for resolutions that don’t involve any of the above generic resolutions (not that any of these are bad choices, they just aren’t for everyone).
Creating new habits can be great new years resolutions as well. For ideas, take a look at my post Top 5 Easy Habits of Highly Productive People.
Free New Years Resolution List Pintable Below!
Be Specific and Detailed
This is the most important piece of creating new years resolutions. In order to create new years resolutions you will actually achieve, you MUST be specific and detailed when creating them. In management and project management positions, I have learned some of the best tactics for creating and achieving goals for myself, and my team. The most effective plan for creating and achieving goals is by using SMART goals. If you haven’t heard of SMART goals before, I will give you the information you need to use this tactic. Creating and detailing your new years resolutions using the SMART goal tactic will provide everything you need to be successful!
What are SMART Goals?
SMART goals are goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. These will be resolutions that are achievable for you, relevant to your life, have a time-frame for achieving them, have a way to track progress, and are specific enough to maintain.
The best way that I can explain this is by giving an example. Let’s say your new years resolution is to save money. If you decide that you are going to save money, and you set your resolution as just that, “save more money”, then how do you know where to start, or if you have been successful? Now, let’s break this down into a SMART goal instead. Let’s first start with what will be attainable for you. How much could you put away each week or each paycheck without creating a negative effect (such as not being able to pay your bills)? Let’s say you want to get $5,000 in your savings account, as your specific goal. Are you able to put $96.15 each week away without putting yourself in a bad position? If so, this goal is attainable for you. If you put $96.15/week away for one year you will save $5,000 in one year. So let’s look at this for each letter for SMART:
Specific – save $5,000 by the end of the new year
Measurable – each week your savings should increase by $96.15
Attainable – you are able to put $96.15 away from your paycheck each week
Relevant – you would like to save more money, this will allow you to save $5,000
Time-bound – this goal has a stopping point after 52 weeks
Accountability
First, you have selected resolutions that are meaningful to you. Next, you made these resolutions specific and detailed. Now, it’s time to determine how you will have accountability for these resolutions. This is the final step in success for new years resolutions you will actually achieve. If you have a lot of self motivation, you can hold yourself accountable for your new years resolutions. If not, it is a great idea to share your resolution list with someone close to you, someone that you trust. Have them help to hold you accountable. Give them your list of resolutions, and your measurable goals, and ask them to occasionally check in with you throughout the year. Or, if you have someone close to you that has the same goals, you can work together to hold each other accountable! This can be a great bonding activity for couples or friends.
If you sway from your resolution, or don’t hit the measurable marks you have set, don’t be too hard on yourself. No one is perfect! The desire for perfection is a major cause of losing motivation. If you missed a week, or had to borrow some money from your savings, well $4,568 saved is much more than the $0 you would have had without your goal. Losing 10 lbs instead of the 25 you had planned is still 10 lbs closer to the weight you had desired. Don’t strive for perfection, strive for a result you can be proud of.
I wish you the best of luck with your new years resolutions, and you have already taken the first step! You are determining how to set resolutions you will actually achieve, and the forward thinking has already put you on the right track.
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Please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions in the comments below!
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