Every year, by mid of December, when the New Year is just around the corner, we all face a similar situation in which we start to wonder what kind of New Year we should have and how to make New Year resolutions.
The transition of one year to another year always brings hope and promise to do better than the year gone by.
With the arrival of the New Year, we are given the impetus, motivation, and drive to reinvent ourselves once more.
We all feel hopeful and expect something even better.
However, let me tell you that December and January are not ideal for setting goals and making New Year resolutions. The simple reason is people are in the mid of holidays and vacations. They are in the celebration mood due to holidays and New Year. For Chinese, the Lunar New Year falls at the end of January.
Also, New Year’s resolutions are also made on vague thoughts like – lose weight, quitting smoking, or making more money. But these are not solid resolutions but a plain thought that you hold in your mind. And this is why most people fail to achieve their New Year resolutions.
You cannot take your resolutions lightly if you are serious about living a better life and achieving your goals.
There are 6 keys that make all the difference when it comes to unlocking the power of translating your New Year resolutions into an actual concrete actionable plan for the coming year.
Here are the 6 keys…
1.Mental Preparedness
The most crucial thing is to get mentally prepared for all the changes that will lead to your Growth, Progress, and Success.
You will face roadblocks and people around you who will stop you from achieving your goals. Take note of it, accept, and acknowledge that you will face challenges. Be resilient and learn from the experience.
Robert Kiyosaki once said: “Failure defeats losers. Failure inspires winners.”
Mindset is the only differentiator between a loser and a winner.
2.Decision Making
The second step is to make a decision and stick to it. It is being committed to achieving your resolutions.
Initially, it is easy to feel motivated, but self-doubt creeps in when faced with roadblocks like failure and rejections.
To take a resolution of waking up at 5 Am every morning and going for a morning walk looks simple, but imagine if you just got 3 hours of sleep because you were partying with friends.
This is when the majority of people fail to follow through on their plans. They lose sight of the decision they made for themselves.
So, make it a commitment right now. Decide to stick to your plan and do whatever it takes to achieve your New Year’s resolutions.
3.Set Bold and Exciting Resolutions
Begin your year with the boldest and exciting resolutions for yourself. Something that will drive you and motivate you to take action on it. Something you will look forward to achieving.
Attach emotions to your resolutions. Don’t let others influence you or deter you from your goal.
Try and connect these goals with your inner values rather than only materialistic ones.
Find yourself an accountability partner, someone who will be there to push you and drive you when you are thinking of quitting or slowing down. And when you have victories and produce some wins, you can celebrate together.
4.Break your resolutions into short term, mid-term and long term actionable power leaps
Don’t start with something big; begin with small, achievable goals. This will give you confidence and increase your faith.
For example, if you resolve to get back in shape, you can set up milestones to mark your progress. You will have to calculate that if you want to reduce ten pounds in three months, how much will you need to reduce in one month and then how much in a week. This is how you can set
your short-term (one week), midterm (one month), and long-term (three months) goals. Our short-term and mid-term goals must direct us to our final purpose.
Get your exercise and diet plan ready. These will be your actionable steps.
Remember that if you want to make a positive change in your life, you must first set a goal or commit and then follow through with an action plan.
5.Record Your New Year Resolutions
Yes, you heard it right. Record down your resolutions. Write down every goal you set for the year in a notebook, planner, diary, etc.
Most people don’t believe in writing down their goals. Then wonder about their failure.
How you treat your resolutions clearly shows how committed you are toward them.
Ask yourself that how committed are you?
If you are completely committed, you will go to any length. But if you aren’t, you’ll never bother writing down and keeping track of your New Year’s resolutions. It will simply appear as a random thought in your mind. Come and go as you please.
As a result, make a list of your resolutions, goals, milestones, and action steps.
6.Check-In and Measure Your Progress Regularly
Honestly, I don’t like the phrase “New Year resolutions.” It always makes me feel that it is something that you do once during the New Year.
Meaning, you will never revisit your resolution? Well, this is where most people get it wrong.
They think that setting goals or having New Year’s resolutions is something they need to do just once and then forget about it.
Goal setting, I believe, is a skill that must be practiced regularly, just like any other.
You can’t set it once in December or January and then delete it from your mind.
The only way to know if you are moving forward or away from your target is to measure your progress. To achieve your New Year’s resolutions and goals, you must measure them and track them. If you don’t measure them, you will never know how well you’re doing.