Five reasons you’ll ditch your New Year’s Resolutions, and what to do about it! Make lasting changes in 2016 that will help you reach your goals.
5 Reasons You’ll Ditch Your New Year’s Resolutions:
No Clear Goals: I’ve heard many resolutions over the years, and they are usually very vague. Things like losing weight, eat healthier, start working out, spend more time with my family, earn more money, gain more followers. While there is nothing wrong with doing any of these ideas, they are very vague goals. Instead of generalizing the direction you would like to go, decide on a destination.
Maybe you should resolve to lose 15 pounds. To earn $10, 000 more this year than you did last year. Instead of saying you want to spend more time with your family, you could choose one hour a day to be entirely intentional, uninterrupted family time. You need to know exactly where you’re trying to go if you plan to get there. You wouldn’t say you’ll attend a party and type the city into your GPS and hope to reach your destination. You leave your house each day knowing exactly where you’re heading; the same should be true of your New Year’s resolution.
Lack Of Planning: Once you know where you’re headed, you can make a plan to get there. If you want to make $10,000 more this year you can break that down into steps to get you there by the end of the year. When you are planning for a new year, you need to take an honest look at the past year and determine what worked and what didn’t. Many times we are happy to boast about the things we accomplished, but it can be challenging to talk about the areas that didn’t work out the way we hoped they would. We set goals, and we fail. That’s fine, and it’s normal, but why did we fail? What happened? Were there obstacles that stood in our way? Did we run from them? Were the goals set too lofty? Failures are some of life’s greatest lessons, so let’s learn from them and set goals for the future that will be both attainable and realistic.
It’s easy to plan for success, at least, think we so, but if we aren’t considering the obstacles, we could face, we are not adequately preparing.
Unrealistic Expectations: Besides the failure to set a destination and plan out how to get where you want to be the most common reason you’ll ditch your New Year’s Resolution comes from unrealistic expectations. Your goal may indeed be too lofty. I’m not saying this to break your spirit, but just because you want to win the lottery, or open a boutique downtown doesn’t mean you will accomplish that goal in 2016. While planning helps you get where you are going if you’re the target is a worthy one, it is going to take blood, sweat, and tears to get there. Parts of your plan will fall through; you will likely suffer emotional turmoil, worry, and fear. If you think this is going to be easy, you’re in for a bumpy ride. Wanting something enough isn’t sufficient. You have to be willing to work, and wait, and work some more. Some people believe in speaking things into existence, but as far as I know, God is the only one who’s mastered that! So be prepared to work your butt off, and fall flat on your face, then get up and keep going!
No Support Or Accountability: Who is on your team? Regardless of what your New Year’s Resolution is about (diet, exercise, career goals), you need a team. The people on your team are the friends and family members that will spur you on when things get tough, celebrate with you, and kick your butt when you want to give up. If you get them to join you in reaching your goals, you are more likely to succeed. It’s easier to hit the gym with a friend, volunteer with your family, or campaign for office with your teammates running the phones. There’s nothing quite as powerful as a motivated person with a group of people behind them. Even if you can only find one cheerleader/butt kicker, your chances of success are much higher.
One Fresh Start Per Year Perspective: People who believe they have to wait until January 1st to do something or change something in their lives have the wrong perspective. I’m not saying I don’t love the fresh start of a new year, but I believe every day is a new beginning. Every day is a chance to fix what you’ve made a mess of. The first time you cheat on your new diet, guess what the next meal, the following day, those a chances to make the right choices and start again. Don’t be a quitter. Look at every day as of January 1st if you need to. There is nothing that magically wipes the slate clean each January. It’s all in your head. Every day is the day you should start setting goals, planning how to get there and make it happen. Life is a journey that flows together seamlessly, so live like every day matters because it does. People who say “I’ll eat this junk or be lazy until New Years then I’ll get on track, don’t understand how precious every day is. Don’t be that person!