I know, I know….you are skeptical. You have made New Years Resolutions in the past and have failed to keep them. You watch everyone start eating better and working out and you are waiting until February to go back to the gym. You are waiting for others to fail as well.
But what if that didn’t have to be the case? What if you could keep those goals and actually CRUSH them this year? I believe that all of us would want that. We do not like to fail and so we just don’t start. So maybe that is why you have stopped making those resolutions. Because I believe if we knew in our hearts and minds that there was a chance we could succeed, we would make them. We would start working towards the goals.
So…HOW? How is this year going to be different than the others?
- PLAN
Now…I bet you are like…I did that!! I am really good at planning, just not executing. I get this. But I want you to look at planning your goals out a little differently. First, make no more than 7 goals for the year. These are BIG goals. Second, write out the steps that it would take to reach those goals. Third, make quarterly goals. Fourth, make monthly goals.
I am not saying you have to make all of these at once. For instance, this year, I started with my yearly goals. I wrote out all of the big things that would need to happen in order for me to reach those goals. Then I split them up over the year. I now have my first 90 days of the year goals and January goals. This keeps me on track so that I am not scrambling at the end of the year trying to reach my goal that should have taken 6 months and I am trying to cram it into 1 month. I am setting myself up for failure that way!
- COMMUNITY
You need people around you that are aware of your goals and that will hold you accountable and push you. This doesn’t need to be complicated. Join a Facebook group (especially if this a goal you do not want super public yet – writing a book or something). Join a running group. JOIN SOMETHING! Tell a friend but more than that, ask for accountability with it. Side note – some of your friends will be better at this than others. Do not pick the really nice one that hates confrontation!
This year, I have a Facebook community that supports me. Many of them I know outside of social media which has helped keep me accountable.
Also, my husband and I are both running a half marathon. We have made it a priority to run together. Why? Because when that alarm clock goes off and i don’t want to get up, he is pushing me to get up because he is already up and ready! And then other days it is the reverse. We do well to PUSH each other. My great feeling day might be the day he is struggling but I can encourage. There are days when I feel ike I can only do 3 miles and he tells me we are doing 7.
- TRACK
This is a big one. This will help keep your goals in front of you. For me, I use a habit tracker to keep track of my goals each month. I color in the boxes when I have completed it. It then shows me overall how i am doing! At the end of the month, this also allows me to assess where I am at and if I need to focus more specifically on one area.
This also helps me feel good that I am coloring in those boxes because that means that I am making progress!! Which leads to the last thing:
- CELEBRATE
You HAVE to celebrate progress. Celebrate those wins. Why? Because that is what pushes you. That is what drives you. It will motivate you to keep going.
One of things that motivated me when I was losing weight last year was to put marbles in a jar that symbolized how much weight I wanted to lose. So, I had 20 marbles in the jar. Every time I lost a pound, I took a marble out of the jar. This did 2 things: it allowed me to track my progress but it motivated me. I took so much pleasure in removing a marble (and I told my entire house and friend circle about each one removed).
Make this year count! YOU CAN DO IT! I believe in you!
