Technology TransactionsHow To Make New Year"s Resolutions Stick
At the beginning of each year so many of us commit to changes and
worthy goals to be accomplished in the next twelve months only to
be disappointed come next December 31 when we discover we are no
closer to achieving those resolutions than we were on January 1.
The noble resolutions we made early-on became unstuck. So I
looked at this dilemma and created four useful suggestions to
increase the probability that your New Year"s resolutions will
stick this year.
Quantify it.
Sometimes we are just too vague about what we
want. Therefore, a resolution such as, "I want to lose weight
this year" will probably fail. It is too vague. How much weight?
Be specific. What would your ideal weight be, less what do you
weigh now, is what you are going after. It is not enough to
resolve that; "I want enough money in the bank this year".
Quantify. What specific amount would soothe your soul?
Set a deadline.
Resolutions that are to be achieved "as soon
as possible" wind up in the heap of "Someday I"ll...." Deadlines are
commitments. Without a deadline as a self-imposed pressure point,
getting started is easily postponed. You see, deadlines put us on
the line and define when failure occurs. Deadlines also help us
to break the resolution down into little bite-sized pieces. For
example, if your goal is to lose 25 pounds by June 30, that
translates into approximately 4 pounds per month, one pound per
week, or a daily reduction of caloric intake (or an increase in
daily caloric burn) of just 500 calories per day. Now that"s
manageable. 500 calories a day is easy to achieve. Otherwise, 25 pounds
seems like a leap across the Grand Canyon. Until we quantify our
goal, set a deadline, then break it down to its daily
requirements, the resolution will forever seem unattainable.
Change one or two things at a time.
We generally do not like
change in the first place. We seek the familiar and avoid the
strange. The more change you put yourself through, the higher the
probability your campaign will collapse. Focus in on one or two
of the more important resolutions you seek to accomplish this
year. When you achieve one or the other, start on the next one.
Don"t overwhelm yourself with too much change all at once.
Be realistic.
There"s just something about the start of a new
year that gets us all wound up for changes in our lives,
sometimes extraordinary and unrealistic changes. We become much
like the child in the candy store whose eyes are bigger than his
stomach. Be realistic. You can only accomplish a certain amount
within a period of time. Don"t saddle yourself with unrealistic
resolutions that will only spell failure later on.
Take it a day at a time, and over time, small changes will become big changes, and you will meet your goals.