How to succeed with keeping resolutions

It’s a new year and we wondered if you are making any resolutions. We are deciding what we want as resolutions and for sure, among them will be getting to bed earlier to get more sleep. Will we fail or succeed? Statistics show that 40% of Americans make resolutions but only 8% are able to achieve those resolutions. We decided to look at what could increase the odds for success. Here are some ways to help resolutions stick.

Tony Robbins says that to succeed with resolutions, we need to have a clear vision for what we want, strong enough reasons to keep going when the going gets tough and focus on the goals every day. People often make a list of goals they want to do but if they made a list of goals they must do, they would be more successful. Get some passion about goals because goals get put off if they aren’t important enough to life satisfaction.

Also, looking at goals from a positive viewpoint is helpful. It’s easy to see goals from a negative viewpoint of what you can’t do. For example, if you want to lose weight and be healthier, it may feel like you have to deny yourself many things, such as some foods you enjoy. If you can look ahead and vision what the positive results will be and how much better you will look and feel, it can help motivation. Having the food you enjoy is immediate gratification, whereas the feelings you get from being fit and healthy are delayed to the future so it’s important to stay focused on the long haul.

Be specific about what goals you have and the action steps to achieve them. John Norcross at the University of Scranton says, “If you can’t measure it, it’s not a very good resolution because vague goals beget vague resolutions.” For example, instead of a resolution to “lose weight”, decide on how much weight you want to lose and have a specific plan with steps on how to achieve it. It’s also important to reward yourself for the smaller steps taken toward your larger goal.

Sharing your goals with others helps hold you accountable. Even having a partner who shares the same goal can be very motivating. Accountability is a proven psychological tactic that helps increase goal attainment. Also, when you think of the positive effect that achieving your goal has on others, it helps you keep going. When loved ones see you taking good care of yourself, their support and encouragement contributes to your motivation to succeed.

These are just a few ways to help be successful with resolutions. We went out to talk to someone to learn more about resolutions.

We met Carole McMonigal, yoga business owner and instructor, who told us how she views resolutions. She shared, “I prefer a different word than resolution. I prefer the word intention. For me, the word resolution implies mending, fixing something, repairing. Where there might be areas in our lives that we want to fix or repair, a bigger, broader term such as intention can be used. So I first think of it [intention] as the deepest desires of our hearts, things that we want to call upon and good things that we want more of in our life.

From there, it’s pretty easy to set an intention. The intention becomes our will and that’s really important because that determines our motivation for doing something. I also find that if will and motivation are a little more other-centered, it gives us a bit stronger motivation to stick with things.

From that, will becomes our actions, the things that we do. These might be smaller items that other people define as goals. I like it being will and action, as these things can change over time because we might get bored with one particular goal. So we can keep morphing, adapting and changing. Then we are actually determining our own destiny. It kind of creates this whole path for us to follow.”

We offered several ways to help success with resolutions and Carole added some important things to consider. We wonder, what about you? Where are you with you intentions and resolutions?

Here’s a challenge: As you make your intentions and resolutions, take some time to identify what’s really important to you and why you want to reach these goals. This will help you stay motivated if you feel like giving up. Rally the support you need to help you on your journey. One step at a time, you can do it!

Chanhassen residents Doug and Lynn Nodland are Success Coaches and owners of The Balance Center. They can be contacted at WeCare@SharingLifesLessons.com

© Doug and Lynn Nodland 2017 Articles and videos may be shared in their entirety with attribution.