By now you may have realized how difficult it is to keep the freaking new year resolutions right? It is usually fine for the first few days and even weeks. You are optimistic about the future and you have probably even seen yourself achieve your goals and aspirations for the new year.
Fast forward to the second week and your enthusiasm is waning and you begin to wonder if you’ll ever keep your resolutions. Trust me, we have all been there.
Since the year is still fresh (this is only the second week), here are 3 ways you can make sure that you keep your new year’s resolutions.
- Have a clear purpose
Ever wondered about how easy it is to do the things you want to do compared to doing things you know you have to do?
When a goal is backed up with a clear reason why you should to reach that goal, you would do whatever it takes to achieve it. Purpose acts like a fuel that will move you to reach your goal. The clearer and more deeply attached you are to your purpose, the greater the enthusiasm and determination you have to make sure you are always on track.
Action Step #1
If you feel like you are slacking in your new year resolutions department, then re-assess your purpose for your resolutions and get in tuned with the reason why you want to achieve your goal.
- Set milestones
The outcome you desire for the year could seem so far way, especially when you know that you have less than 365 days to the end of the year. Knowing that there is a lot of time for you to patch up your goal will make you slow down your progress. This is because you’ll feel like you have a lot of time on your hands to make sure that you fulfill your resolutions.
Setting up achievable “mini-goals” that will get you closer to your new year’s resolution is a great way to pace yourself and encourage you to keep putting in the work until you achieve your new year’s resolution.
Action Step #2
Break down your resolutions into smaller goals that you can work towards achieving daily, weekly or monthly. This will help make your resolutions more achievable, with clear milestones to work towards.
- Reward yourself as you make steps to achieving your goal
Keeping a resolution or working towards a goal can be really hard. Most times, it is energy-sapping. If you don’t encourage or motivate yourself to keep going, you will want to abandon your new year’s resolution. Motivation is the key that can help keep you going.
When you are motivated, you are more prone to taking action. As you keep going, you start gathering momentum until it becomes a part of you.
Action Step #3
Reward yourself every time you make a step towards fulfilling your resolutions or nail your daily, weekly or monthly target.
The reward doesn’t have to be a big one. It could be anything like taking yourself out to the movies, treating yourself to a massage, or even enjoying a nice jar of freshly baked cookies.
Do you have any resolutions for 2017? How do you plan to keep them?
