New Year’s Resolutions

Every year many people set themselves New Year’s resolutions that begin on the first of January and if they are lucky carry on till mid March! I am just as guilty as most, so how can you make sure that the resolutions you set are ones that can be kept for the whole year?

The top ten resolutions set each year are:

Spend more time with family and friends
Increase fitness,
Lose weight,
Quit smoking,
Enjoy life more/reduce stress,
Quit drinking,
Get out of debt,
Learn something new,
Help others
Get more organised.

The reason so many of these resolutions fail seems to be that there are life changing and it is incredibly difficult to go either cold turkey or break long ingrained habits. So how could they be changes to make them achievable?

By breaking each resolution down into manageable and observable goals rather than rigid resolutions they become far easier to tackle. Goals can begin by being small steps that build into increasingly difficult ones as you become accustomed to the change. By breaking the resolution down you get the feeling of achievement and accomplishment as each small step is met. Rather than seeing any setbacks as huge failures new strategies can be found to meet that small part of the goal.

If you take one of your resolutions and then break it down into a series of goals that are to be met in a specific amount of time such as: a daily to do list, this week I will.. by the end of the month I will.. in 3 months I will.. in 6 months I will... By the end of the Year I will.. This allows you to regularly see if you are still on track to meet your final goal and re adjust your plans if not.

Goals should be SMART, that is:

S – Specific
M – Measurable
A – Attainable
R – Relevant/Rewarding/Realistic
T – Time bound

Specific is the What, Why and How of the goal. Ensure the goals you set are very specific, clear and easy. Instead of setting a goal to lose weight or be healthier, set a specific goal to lose X cm off your waistline or to drop a dress size or to run X miles in X amount of time. Then review the goals and make sure they are still manageable steps towards your main resolution.

Measureable - Choose a goal with measurable progress, so you can see the change occur. How will you see when you reach your goal? Be specific: “I want to lose 1kg before the end of the month, 5kg in 6 months and 7kg in a year” shows the specific target to be measured. “I want to lose weight” is not as measurable. When you measure your progress, you stay on track, and experience the exhilaration of achievement that motivates you to continue the effort required to reach your goals.

Attainable – Goals you set which are too far out of your reach, you probably won’t commit to doing. A goal needs to stretch you slightly so you feel you can do it and it will need a real commitment from you. For instance, if you aim to lose 5kg in one week, we all know that isn’t achievable. But setting a goal to lose 1kg and when you’ve achieved that, aiming to lose a further 1kg, will keep it achievable for you. The feeling of success which this brings helps you to remain motivated. Be sure to set goals that you can attain with some effort! Too difficult and you set the stage for failure, but too low sends the message that you aren’t very capable. Set the bar high enough for a satisfying achievement!

Rewarding – When your goals are rewarding for you, it is much more likely that you will stay focused and motivated. By making the goals and resolutions personal to you rather than what other people ask of you it is far more likely that you will stay on track. When you achieve each goal towards the main resolution take the time to enjoy the satisfaction of having done so. Take time to see how the goal has taken you closer to meeting the resolution and look at the progress you have made. Reward yourself appropriately for having met your goal and it will help build your confidence and motivation towards meeting the next goal in your plan.

Time bound - Set a timeframe for the goal: for next week, in three months, by the end of the year etc. Putting an end point on your goal gives you a clear target to work towards. If you don’t set a time, the commitment is too vague. It tends not to happen because you feel you can start at any time. Without a time limit, there’s no urgency to start taking action now. Time must be measurable, attainable and realistic.

Some other Hints and Tips for meeting your resolutions and goals are:

State each goal as a positive statement rather than as a negative eg I will, can, regularly, rather than I won’t, can’t or never

Set priorities – if you have more than one resolution then decide which one is most important to you and work on that one first it is easier too easy to feel overwhelmed by having too many goals to reach at once.

Write goals down – if you have no record of your goals it is much easier to give up on them.

Make sure your goals are small and achievable if things seem too large and difficult it is far harder to stay motivated.

Set goals over which you have as much control as possible. If you set goals based on personal performance rather than outcome you can keep control over your achievements rather than being dispirited by external reasons beyond your control.

Keep re assessing your goals to make sure you are still working towards your over all resolution and if not alter your goals to make sure you can still achieve what you set out to do!


Good luck!