Supercharge Your
New Year’s
Resolutions
Brought to you by George Tee
Let’s face
it folks. We’ve all made dozens of New
Year’s Resolutions that we haven’t followed through with. But this is the year of redemption for all
those forgotten promises. It’s that time
of year again, time to turn over a new leaf and live life to it’s fullest. It’s time to resolve to lose that extra
weight you’ve been carrying around, start the home based business you’ve always
dreamed of or whatever it is that you desire to do with yourself and your
life.
I know
what you’re thinking; you’ve tried this before, right? You’ve made plenty of resolutions that you
didn’t keep. Maybe you’ve even forgotten
them by the time you rolled out of bed on January 2nd. This year is different. This year you will be equipped with the tools
you need to make resolutions that will stick.
This year, your resolutions will be supercharged with commitment and
power like never before.
Did you
know that less than 10% of New Year’s Resolutions are actually kept? This year, you’ll join the ranks of the
dedicated, committed and strong. These seven very important tips are the tools
that the other 90% don’t have to supercharge their New Year’s resolutions.
1. Be
concrete
Instead of
talking about things you’d like to do, talk about things that WILL happen. Use statements like “I’m going to have family
dinners every Sunday.” Or “I will take a college class this semester.” Avoid talking about your resolutions using
phrases that begin with statements such as “I’d like to…” “ Wouldn’t it be
nice…” or “Maybe I’ll…” These statements
leave you to shuffle around the subject without actually committing yourself to
it. Using concrete terms will help you
commit to the idea yourself. It is a
simple confidence building technique that will help you internalize your goals
and achieve them. By the time Sunday
rolls around, you won’t even question if you are going to have a nice big
family dinner, because you’ve already told yourself you would. In short, the words you use for your New
Year’s Resolutions can’t give you and out, you have to say it like you mean it.
2. Write
them down
Writing
your New Year’s Resolutions down seems rudimentary, but experts agree that the
rate of success is exponentially higher if you do. Writing them down is another form of
commitment that starts the ball rolling to help you make a successful
resolution.
Now that
you’ve gotten your resolutions down on paper, don’t just stuff your list at the
bottom of your sock drawer. Post your
list in a prominent location where you’re sure to see it. Better yet, make a few copies and post it in
a few important places around the house, at work or even in the car. Having this constant reminder will help you
to remember your resolutions – a key step to following through with them!
3. Be
Specific
If you
give yourself a specific New Year’s resolution, you won’t know exactly what you
are supposed to do. Don’t just set a
goal of exercising more, but give yourself a specific, yet achievable schedule
for it. Try setting a specific goal such
as exercising every Monday, Wednesday and Friday before work for an hour. You may want to specify your resolution even further
by naming the location and activity as well.
The important part is to give yourself a specific goal that you can
follow through with in a concrete manner. You may live a very sedentary
lifestyle and try to get out of your own goal by saying that a walk to the
mailbox or walk through the mall is sufficient to satisfy your resolution to
“exercise more.” However, you can avoid
resolution failure by telling yourself what exactly needs to be done and
when. For example, setting a goal of
walking 1 mile around the neighborhood creates a much easier resolution to
follow because it involves concrete activities to help you monitor your
progress.
If your
resolution is a bigger goal that will take more time such as starting your own
business, you need to map out all of the smaller goals that you need to
accomplish along the way. Give yourself
a timeframe for each of the small projects required to meet the long-term
goal. Give yourself a due date for
everything from coming up with a logo, slogan, brochure to finding an office
and buying staples. With all of your
small milestones mapped out, the whole process of starting up your own business
will feel much less daunting.
4. Tell
everyone you know
One of the
worst mistakes you can make is to not tell anyone other than yourself. For example, if your resolution was to lose
ten pounds and you told no one else about it, then you very well may show up at
dinner at a friend’s house only to be greeted by all of the unhealthy foods you
just swore off. And since you never told
that friend about losing the ten pounds and you won’t want to offend your
friend by not eating his or her food, you go ahead and break your diet, “just
this once.”
By telling
everyone you know, you are setting yourself up for success. Each and every person you tell your
resolution to will be rooting for you and will probably check up on your
progress. Whether your goal is to save
up for a family vacation, exercise regularly, or spend more time with loved
ones, you will invariably be questioned on your progress and your friends and
family will revel in your success right along with you. This just creates another measure of
accountability to help you be successful with your New Year’s resolutions.
Many
people fear the rejection if they do not succeed at their resolution. For example, one man made a commitment to
himself to train for a marathon. He was
hesitant to tell anyone in fear that he might become injured and not be able to
complete the race. However, after he
began training and developed trust in the training program he was following, he
realized that he needed the support of everyone he knew to cross the finish
line of such a monumental task. Although
runners are always at the risk of injury, he found that the support he gained
from his friends and family was actually just what he needed - not only to get
himself to the finish line, but also to get through the disappointment of an
injury if it were to happen.
5. Set Realistic Goals
One of the
biggest mistakes most people make is setting themselves up for failure. For example, if your resolution is to lose 20
pounds in January or winning the lottery, you probably won’t be very
successful. Achieving goals takes time
and effort on your part. Don’t expect
things to happen just because you thought of as you watched the ball drop in Times Square . If
you set unrealistic goals, you will quickly become discouraged and likely stop
pursuing them at all. A better approach
to a weight loss goal would be to make a resolution to eat healthy foods and
exercise at least three times a week. As
you begin your new lifestyle, you can’t expect yourself to never eat a Big Mac
again, but you have to make a commitment to move those muscles and make meal
choices that leave you satisfied and not feeling like a dead weight.
It is also
very important that you are careful not to set goals on top of goals. If you’ve resolved to start your own home
based business this coming year, don’t set first year monetary goals on top of
it or you will likely end up disappointed and in search of a 9-5 job. Like many goals, starting a home based business
can be a trying experience and may not pay out the big bucks in the first year
while you’re getting it up off the ground.
First you need to experience the satisfaction of just getting your
business up and running. Once you get a
feel for how things are going to operate and how big you want to let it get,
then you can set realistic goals for how much you want to make.
Keeping
your resolutions singular in focus is an especially important point because it
is very easy to do. If you resolve to
lose weight and weight lift everyday, you may be disappointed when if you do
not achieve the weight loss you were expecting.
Since muscle weighs more than fat, it’s very easy for you to exercise,
eat properly and gain weight due to increased muscle mass. However, your body fat may be decreasing and
helping create a healthier you.
6. Set a
positive goal
If your
new year’s resolution is to eat healthier to help combat high cholesterol, try
setting a positive goal such as eating healthy snack foods instead of a goal of
laying of the chips and soda. The latter
goal comes with a negative connotation of eating those things that are bad for
you and this will almost undoubtedly put you in a bad mindset. You’ll feel like you couldn’t possibly choose
anything other than French fries, chips, candy or cookies. However, if you make your New Year’s
resolution to eat healthy snack foods, you get your mind turning as to what
snacks you might eat that are good for you.
Hopefully, images of good things like oranges, carrots, cheese, whole
grain crackers or yogurt start popping in your head until you see one that
sounds appealing. You then waltz into
your kitchen and find a snack that fits the bill of health without ever
thinking about any of those things you shouldn’t have. This goal setting technique can almost
eliminate you thinking about anything you could do (or eat!) that might keep
you from your goal.
You can
also help yourself stay positive by giving yourself positive reminders about
your resolution. If you’ve resolved to
quit smoking, you should place positive reminders about how strong you are
around the house, at work, in your day planner or anywhere you think your eyes
might fall during the day. Use any
slogans that might perk you up and keep you on track. Remind yourself that you’ve turned over a new
leaf and that you are a strong person.
As corny as it may sound, having a positive outlook towards the
commitments you’ve made is one of the most important aspects of getting
there. These little slogans will serve
as a pick-me-up when you’re down and as a great reminder to stay on the
straight and narrow path when you’re on it.
7. Visualize
your success
Last but
not least, you need to close your eyes and visualize what your resolution
success would mean. What will change
when you succeed? If you’ve vowed to get
yourself out of debt, picture yourself without the stress of overdue bills,
maxed out credit cards and compounding late fees and interest. Realizing the success of your goal before you
get there will help you stay on track and focused on attaining whatever New
Year’s resolution you make.
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