Make your New Years Resolutions Work! Even if it isn't new year.

Do you set New Year's Resolutions every year, only to have forgotten them before January is even over? Do you see the start of a new year as a chance to wipe your hands of all the wrongs of last year, and as an opportunity to make a fresh start for the rest of your life - but just don't seem to be able to make it work? Are your NYR's (new year's resolutions) a general statement like 'I'm going to lose weight this year' or 'I want to make more money' - but you have no idea how to achieve it?

Well, you're not alone.

The reality is that the traditional NYR's like these JUST DON'T WORK because:

1.  NYR's are usually set after a indulgent Christmas period of over-eating and spending too much money - so are often driven by guilt, and not what really matters.

2.  NYR's are usually just a generic statement of something you think you might want to do, and don't include a specific end point or a way to get there. Have you ever researched a NYR?

3.  NYR's usually don't include a deadline - and without a deadline to work to, it just gets put off until later (or never!).

4.  NYR's are rarely written down. Out of sight, out of mind - no wonder they just get forgotten before the month's out!

But NYR's can be the START of your journey to success - after all, they are usually to do with some aspect of your life that you want to change - but you need to realise that they are only a small part of this journey.

NYR's can be the starting point for your success, but you need to get off that starting line if you're going to finish - if you're going to achieve. So to really achieve your own personal success, you must move from habitual 'New Year's Resolution Setter and Forgetter' to successful 'Goal Setter and Achiever'!

How? Goal Setting is just a process - a pretty simple one at that - that helps you decide WHAT you really want to achieve in your life, and HOW to get there. The process is as simple as:

1.  Work out what you really want - not what you think you want (this is probably your NYR's anyway), but what you REALLY want.  What's most important to YOU? You're more likely to achieve a goal if it is something that you really want. In other words, the WHY is just as important as the WHAT.

2.  Turn this into something measurable and with a deadline so that it is a real target and not just an arbitrary goal - 'I want to lose 10kg by Easter' is a specific target, rather than 'I want to lose weight'.

3.  Work out a plan of action to achieve your goal - step by step, how are you going to achieve your goal and what resources do you need (money, time, equipment, information, etc).

4.  Sanity check on whether your goal is realistic and achievable. And then....

5.  Just do it! {Thanks Nike}

It's as simple as that.

And finally, don't think that the 'new year' is the start of your 'new life'.  It's better to think of each day as being the first day of the rest of your life.  Don't get into the pattern of thinking that you can only start goals on 1 January, or on the first day of the month, or on a Monday [interestingly though, most people start a diet on a Monday]. 

But you can start setting and achieving your goals anytime - yes, even on a Friday - and you can START NOW!

Anyone can set goals, anyone can achieve goals, and anyone can be successful - but not everyone is. Be one of the success stories of this life and start setting your goals today!