So did you or didn’t you? Make a New Years Resolution I mean? How many times have you said you were going to? And how many times have you failed?
I have nothing against New Year Resolutions but this time of year isn’t the best time to make them. Setting and reaching your goals needs more consideration and planning than just a thought at midnight on 31st December. This is why many of us give up on our New Year Resolutions.
These simple steps below will help you achieve what you’ve said you want to stop, change or start in 2011.
1 Write down your goal. e.g. I want to be a size 14 by February 2012. Ask yourself is it realistic? Is the timescale right? Do I have the resources and help that I need? If not where can I get them from?
2 Get some sheets of paper. On one write down all the things that you don’t like or hate about your current situation.
What impact does the thing that you want to stop or change have on your life? Write everything, even the smallest details. Ask others what they’ve noticed. How does it affect their lives? Come back to it and add more over a few days.
On another sheet write your goal at the top. Write what you and your life will be like when you have reached your goal. Make it as detailed as possible. Think of all the little things that you can’t do now that you will be able to then. Think of how you will be feeling. How you will be in yourself. Ask others for their thoughts. What effect will it have on them?
Keep these sheets of paper handy so that you can read them regularly.
3 Now imagine that time has passed and you have succeeded. Experience fully what it is like now that you have achieved your goal. From this point think how you achieved it? What did you do yesterday? What did you do the week before? What did you do the month before? Do this until you have taken yourself back in time to when you did step 2. Some things may be more detailed than others. If you come to a point when you can’t imagine what you did, think of other people who have done something similar. Imagine someone you admire and ask yourself what they would do?
Using what you’ve imagined start with today and write down the steps you will take to reach your goal. This is your plan. If something doesn’t quite go the way you anticipated revise and adjust your plan.
4 If you find that you are losing motivation go back and read those two sheets. Remember the discomfort of your life as it was and how your life will be when you’ve reached the goal.
Happy New Year!
