New Year’s Resolution: Skip the Resolutions

2019 is officially upon us.  Many people have a fantasy that January 1st is going to be the day they start a new and improved life – a fresh start, a new (maybe healthier) you.  We shoot for the moon and make big goals to lose weight, quit drinking, get organized or save more money.  Four weeks later, we’re right back where we started. What happened?  The truth is, only about 8% of people actually keep their New Year’s Resolutions, so odds are if you look around - you are not alone.  Here are 3 things to do year round to better yourself and reach those tough goals:

1. Focus on your progress: One of the biggest problems with New Year’s Resolutions is our “pass-fail” or all-or-nothing mentality.  We set overly ambitious and restrictive goals.  We become discouraged when we experience a small failure and then ultimately give up all together.  One of the most important steps is to give up the all-or-nothing mentality.  Stop worrying about making mistakes or whether or not you’re going to achieve your goal and start focusing on PROGRESS towards your goals.  Allow for small failures.  If you have a bad day, put it behind you.  Don’t let one mistake derail how hard you’ve worked.  Remember that real change takes effort, time and patience.  Stay positive and focus on the progress (no matter how small) you’re making.
2. Make short-term goals: Small, incremental lifestyle modifications have a much greater chance of creating lasting, REAL change.  So instead of making a list of 10 New Year’s Resolutions to start on January 1st,   focus on one thing you want to work on, i.e. drinking, weight loss, improving significant relationships in your life.  Then focus on small steps to make this important change.  Making life changes is more like a staircase -  you climb it one step at a time as opposed to trying to get a running start and climbing them all at once, you will only get hurt trying it this way, and will fail to reach your goal.
3. Hold yourself accountable (in more ways than one): Accountability has been proven to be one of the key factors for successfully accomplishing a goal. Having another person know and support what you are trying to accomplish tends to help us stick with our goal. Accountability can take many forms - a close friend, a family member, posting on social media, etc. Most importantly, you need to hold yourself accountable. Each day, you can write out your goal, action steps, progress, and barriers for that goal. And remember to celebrate the small successes.

Ready to make a lifestyle change but feel like you’re not going to be able to reach your goal without a little help and support?  Set up a session with me and let’s get you started on a new path!  Counselors are trained to identify unhealthy patterns and work with you to develop new skills and create new habits.
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“May all your troubles last as long as your New Year’s Resolutions” – Joey Adams
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