Ok, let’s be real about New Year’s resolutions.

We get inspired about the chance to make a change, and we each have an idea in the back of our minds or in our focus, about what the focus will be this year. But when it comes down to it, we’re lucky if the inspiration lasts more than a few days. You might find it discouraging when it’s 2 months later, the resolution has been abandoned and just like that, it becomes just another year of status quo.

Let’s talk about real change.

Making sure you succeed starts from the planning phase. If you really care about achieving your goal this time around, then prove your commitment to yourself.

Go ahead and get a pen and paper.

When you’re feeling the inspiration, that’s the time to make the plan!

Accountability and support

Don’t keep your goal to yourself. Find a person or group that can be your support system while holding you accountable at the same time. Or, tell your friend you’ll pay her every time you slack off. This way, not only will you not forget, but you’ll always be on your toes to keep up the good work. The friends and family that know about your goal, will constantly ask about it and check in on you to see how it’s going. Hopefully, they’ll cheer you on as well!

Do something every day

Incorporating an action into your daily routine will build a habit and make it easier for you to keep up your great work. Rather than doing something once a week, find a way to break it down over the course of the week so it becomes more a part of your routine.

Take fitness for example; instead of attempting to work out 3 days a week for an hour or two, try committing to 15-20 minutes each day. Make it part of your morning, lunchtime or evening routine. You’ll grow more accustomed to the change in a shorter time and as it becomes easier, you’ll add more time to the routine without even realizing it.

Make a step by step plan

This is super important if you want to make sure your goal is attainable. Think of as many steps as you can and try to add them to a timeline of some sort. Just the act of sitting down to make this plan will be putting yourself into the right mindset to achieve your goal. Every step is important in order to reach your goals and maintain them. Make sure to include the small steps because those small achievements will motivate you to stick to your plan.

You can do it… IF you believe you can do it.

Your mind is the most powerful tool you have. We don’t need studies to know that the more confident a person, the more likely they are to succeed (although there are hundreds of studies). So, to help ourselves succeed in our goals, it’s important to really believe that we’re going to achieve those goals.

Some confidence exercises include:

-Question the voice in your head that’s telling you that you can’t do it.

-Give yourself pep talks about your strengths.

-Give yourself little challenges and as you watch yourself achieve them, your confidence will grow.

The more love and recognition you give yourself, the less you’re going to need it from others. You ARE beautiful, inside and out, you ARE strong and you CAN do it!

Be realistic

After all is said and done, we have to remember to be balanced. Assess your circumstances, your values and your priorities while writing out your steps and establishing your goals. 

For instance: If your goal is to lose 100 pound but you shouldn’t be losing more than 70 pounds. Or, if your goal is to exercise each day for 2 hours when you’ve never exercise before.

Regarding the former example, you want to stay away from harmful goals.

Regarding the latter example, while there are people out there that work out for 2+ hours each day, that’s not a standard nor is it necessary unless maybe you’re an athlete.

Remember that your goals should be about improvement and healthy sustenance, not self destruction.

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