Have you ever set a New Year’s Resolution that quickly became nothing more than a nice idea? Yeah, me too. I’ve had a lot of good intentions in the past years, but sometimes my lack of determination to see the resolutions through kept me from achieving the goals that I set to begin with.
This led me to wonder, “What are the most commonly set new year’s resolutions?”, and here’s what I found…
According to GoSkills.com, the top 10 Most Common New Year’s Resolutions are as follows:
- Exercise more
- Lose weight
- Get organized
- Learn a new skill or hobby
- Live life to the fullest
- Save more money / Spend less money
- Quit smoking
- Spend more time with family and friends
- Travel more
- Read more
I found this to be pretty interesting. I, myself, have set several of the resolutions mentioned above…and let’s just say that some were more successful than others.
Another question that I had was “What leads most people to give up on their resolutions rather than seeing them through?”…
According to an article on businessinsider.com, “one of the biggest reasons that people fail to keep their New Years resolutions is because they’re not specific enough”.
In looking at the list above, I realized how true that statement is. And, not to mention, in all the success principles I’ve studied over the years, I’ve NEVER seen the suggestion that setting vague goals leads phenomenal results. So… with that in mind, I think that the more specific we can be about the goals that we’d like to accomplish, the better!
So, I wanted to compile a few helpful tips on how you can get more specific with your goals and actually accomplish the New Year’s Resolutions that you set.
- Start with the End in mind – One thing I’ve learned to keep in mind is distinguishing between “what I want most” and “what I want right now”. This has been a HUGE mindset shift for me personally, and Russ has to constantly remind me of this principle (bless him). What the core concept really is based on is delayed gratification, but when applied to goal-setting or, in this case, New Year’s Resolutions…it’s one and the same. Ask yourself “What do I want MOST?” and “How is this goal going to help me get there?”.
- Use metrics – Part of setting an attainable goal is understanding where you’re starting and where you ultimately want to be. What gaps do you need to fill in? Tracking your progression can not only be super motivating, but it allows consistency to compound and gives you something to actually measure. For example, if your desired result is to “get into shape”, what goal are you setting that will help you get closer to that end result? Say it’s doing pushups – how many pushups are you going to do? In what time frame? Then, how are you going to progress from there? Those metrics will help you take baby steps towards what you’re looking to accomplish.
- Keep a Positive Mental Attitude – In my opinion, this is THE key. If you tackle things from a mindset of being a “good-finder” and seeing what good can come from any given situation, you’re bound to be far more successful than the complainer. Sure, things are hard sometimes. But nothing worth having comes easy…and one sure fire way to make things harder on yourself than they really need to be is to complain, condemn or criticize. Find silver linings! You’ll be shocked at the impact that one simple action can have on your entire outlook and overall how you walk through life.
- Celebrate “little” victories – Be proud of your personal wins! No matter how big or small, progress is progress. As you’re working towards accomplishing your New Year’s Resolutions, I encourage you to set a few checkpoints along the way. At those checkpoints, if you’ve progressed or hit micro-goals, TREAT YOURSELF! You deserve it. You’d be surprised how much this can positively lift your spirits and motivate you to keep going and get the job done.
These are things that we’ve personally learned to implement over time, and they have helped us SO much along the way. Of course, we all get off course from time to time…so as much as this is helpful to others, it’s a much needed reminder for us as well.
I hope you’ll take some of this to heart and that it will help us all achieve the goals we set for 2022. Let’s make it OUR YEAR!
The Abundant life 