Resolute Resolutions

It’s that time again. New Years brings parties and best wishes as well as best intentions and resolutions. It’s natural to want to grow change and improve and most often people pick a significant day as a starting point, hence New Year New You!

According to a University of Scranton Study 45% of Americans make New Year resolutions. They also found that 8% of those actually had lasting success with their goals. Many people diminish resolutions saying they do not work, however while 8% is a low percentage it is still a high number. Thousands of positive changes are made from resolutions every year. Truth be told it does not matter when you start to make the changes you most want what matters is your strategy and how resolute you are.

For too many people resolutions are merely declarations not commitments to change or growth. It is the  difference in those terms and approaches that makes all the difference.

There are a few keys to making changes that last and reaching your goals.Using these key strategies will help insure your success but what it comes down to is you; are you firmly committed and are you prepared to recommit as often as necessary until you are successful? That is what being resolute is all about. Conversely, a declaration is a statement of intent, a wish, an idea. 

The Right Resolutions: Chose carefully, be sure it’s a goal that matters to you not something you think you should do or are being pressured by others to pursue. 

To stick to a goal longterm it must have heart; your heart invested in it. Also, consider if attaining it will actually provide that outcome you seek. Know what you are truly after and why. This is a big key to the motivation you will need to achieve it.

Step by Step Strategy: Once clear on a specific reasonable goal, I recommend SMART goals as a structure to set Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time framed goals. Break down your goal from the end result back to the first step and write down exactly what you will do to move forward and when in bite size doable steps.

Many people defeat themselves by setting a resolution with no structure to achieve it. Make a plan.

Be Resolved and Believe: We most often get what we expect and rarely get what we want. You must believe in you ability to achieve what you want and that you deserve what you are pursuing. Seems like a no brainer but we all have a negative voice that holds us back at times and can be very undermining.This fuels self sabotage such as when we cheat on our diet with a cookie after lunch then overeat the rest of the day since we have already screwed up or expect to gain back anything we lose on a diet since we have a yo -yo track record haunting us. We must commit and recognize our best efforts will vary day to day; a little slip is to be expected, recommit to your goals and return to the plan. Expect and believe in your success and keep returning to the path that leads you there.

Support Often overlooked, set up a support system that will help you. It is well documented that using written goals and sharing them with supportive positive people greatly increases success. Join a group, enlist a friend to join you, set up a competition, hire a professional. Nurture and recharge as well; change can be tough and stressful. Be sure you are balancing by nurturing your mind, body and soul along the way. Take time for fun and activities that refresh and recharge you. Bubble baths nights out with friends music mediation reading whatever works for you is crucial to keep you at your best.

Next year at this time what will you be most proud of? What will you enjoy and experience? How will you grow and change to be able to say that 2014 was a great year? Be resolute in your pursuit of what you most want in 2014.

 Happy New Year!