Making Resolutions You Can Live With

I have not blogged ALL YEAR! Can you believe it? (Insert groan due to a bad New Year’s joke here). I know, I know, I am hilarious!

If you are like most Americans, you have made at least one resolution or goal for 2019. If you have seen my social media accounts as recent as today, you will know that my “eating well” goal is out the window (thanks Snooze, an A.M. Eatery!). But that does not mean it is over for the whole year. Let me tell you why. And let me tell you how you can make goals that you can actually live with and be “human” with.

According to an article by Diamond (2013), 40% of Americans make New Year’s resolutions or goals they hope to stick to and accomplish throughout the New Year. Unfortunately, only 8% of those people say they stick with the goal throughout the year.

So, how can we change this? Let me tell you!

1.       Make achievable goals. Do not say you will climb Mount Everest when you have never even climbed Camelback Mountain, have no vacation days, and have no passport. Making an achievable goal will help you stick with it. If your goal is something like physical fitness, make it something you know you can do. Work out three times a week, for example. This is much more achievable than a lofty goal of getting to Everest or doing a triathlon.

2.       Make them simple. This is right there with making them achievable, but if the goal has too many moving pieces, it will be hard to achieve. If you keep it simple, it will be more likely to work out for you. By keeping your goals simple, you should also keep your whole list of goals short. You do not need 25 goals for the New Year. A handful or fewer is just as good (actually better!). The point is not to check things off a list, like a bucket list. The point is to improve yourself each and every year, in some way or another.

3.       Make the goals personal and meaningful. If the goals don’t matter to you, they are useless. If they are useless, you won’t do them. Then you will end up like 92% off all Americans who set goals at the New Year and do not meet them. Do not be like those 92% of Americans! Be different by making simple, meaningful goals that matter to you and your family.

4.       Get a support system. It can be isolating to have goals and meet them alone. Find others with similar goals. Or ask your family to support you in meeting your goals. Ask for support when you need it, find others who are like minded and support them back, and find ways to cheer each other on. Everyone needs a cheerleader. Be that for someone else and find one for yourself.

5.       Be specific. “Eating right” or “reading more” is not specific, nor is it measurable. A non-specific, unmeasurable goal cannot actually be met! How will you know you did it? “Eating right” means something to different to everyone. “Reading more” does not share the essential part: “more than what?” So, be specific and make it measurable.

6.       Find strategies to help you meet your goals. Figure out what will help and use these strategies to meet your goals. Ask others who have met those goals, read books about meeting the goals you set for yourself, or find a professional to help you get it done. Want to save money or eliminate debt? You may need a professional accountant or need to listen to Dave Ramsey podcasts or read some books on finances. Want to lose 25 pounds? Join a gym, or hire a nutritionist or personal trainer.

7.       Allow yourself some grace. Do you eat pancakes for lunch a few days into the New Year? That is okay. There is always tomorrow. If you give up after one slip, you will never meet any goal. Give yourself the grace you would give a loved one.  No one is perfect. And perfection is never the goal; improvement is the goal, so be sure you are focusing on that. Having a growth mindset is the important part, not being perfect and accepting nothing less.

8.       Write them down. Write your goals in a place you will see them and think about them. For some this may be a journal. For others this may be vision board. It may be on a sticky note. Wherever you write them, make sure you review them often and stay focused. Envision yourself meeting this goal. What will you feel like, look like? How will you celebrate? Every time you read the goals, do this exercise where you envision it. This will help so much! An article by Clarey (2014) showed that Olympians who envisioned winning through imagery or visualization were much more likely to win!

9.       Celebrate. Small wins deserve celebration. Celebrate often and consistently to stay motivated. Do not wait until December 31st to celebrate this year’s small and big wins.

What are your goals for this year and how do you plan to meet them?

Until next time, lots of love,

Kimber

References

Clarey, C. (2014). Olympians use imagery as mental training. The New York Times. Retrieved from

                https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/23/sports/olympics/olympians-use-imagery-as-mental-

                training.html

Diamond, D. (2013). Just 8% of people achieve their New Year’s resolutions. Here’s how they do it.

                Forbes Magazine. Retrieved from 

                https://www.forbes.com/sites/dandiamond/2013/01/01/just-8-of-people-achieve-their-new-

                years-resolutions-heres-how-they-did-it/#7a0cc655596b