The New Year is finally here. I don’t know about you, but 2014 seemed to fly by!
And with a New Year comes New Year’s resolutions. And that’s what I want to talk to you about today.
At the beginning of each year, millions of people create goals for themselves ultimately to give up on them in a few weeks or months. It seems like this is the natural process that resolutions seem to follow.
And each year, many urge you to not create any new goals for yourselves because this will ultimately happen. I completely disagree.
Goals are very important to have because they keep you focused and on track. They remind you why you are doing what you are doing.
If you don’t have a goal, you will not have a vision. How can you know where you want to be without a goal? It’s hard to do right?
Goals and resolutions are not a bad thing. I think they can be great motivators as you head into each year. The thing is most people create unrealistic or vague goals. That’s the reason they tend to lose sight of them in a short period of time.
When you create your goals this year, make sure they are 1) realistic and 2) specific. Just by doing this two things you will increase your chances of achieving them.
How many times have you heard someone say “My goal this year is to lose weight and get toned.”? Or, “My goal is to run a marathon in 2 months.”
Do these sound very achievable? Not really. And yet that is the standard for most.
Let’s look at a better way. Let’s say your goal is to lose weight this year, as this is a common one. A realistic expectation is 4-5 pounds lost per month. So your goal could be “I want to lose 10 pounds in 2-3 months”. That’s starting to sound a lot more realistic.
Or let’s say you want to get “toned”. Think about what that would look like for you. Maybe it’s fitting into a pair pants you haven’t worn in 10 years or a dress you haven’t worn since your 1st year anniversary. That’s starting to look more specific now, right?
When you do these two things the goal seems real and attainable. That’s huge! If you don’t know what it would feel or look like to achieve your goal than how can it truly be a goal?
Taking this even further, one of the biggest keys to keeping your goal/resolution is discovering your “WHY”.
Your “WHY” is the reason you’re goals are important to you. It’s the emotional side of things. Let me give you some examples.
Let’s go back to our weight loss goal of 10 pounds. Ask yourself why 10 pounds? Why is this the specific number you chose? Maybe it’s because at that weight you felt that your body looked incredible and your spouse couldn’t keep their hands off you.
Or let’s consider the “toned” goal. You want to fit back into those pants you haven’t worn in 10 years. Ask yourself why is fitting back into those so important to you?
Maybe when you were wearing those you were a lot more active. Your child is 5 years old now and you want to be able to be active and play with your child.
Do you see how this all ties in together? It’s not just about setting realistic and specific goals. It’s about finding your “WHY” for those goals. Once you do this, the odds that you will obtain the goal increase dramatically.
Your “WHY” makes your goal important to you. It makes all the hard work you are doing totally worth it. And it allows you to push through all those times you want to give up.
So in this New Year, do be afraid to set goals. As I mentioned, goals are awesome. But make sure you can accomplish them and you know what you are working towards.
I can’t express how important finding your “WHY” is in this whole process. That is the key to everything.
As humans, we do everything with a reason. If we don’t have a reason for doing a specific action then we won’t deem it as important. If it’s not important than why do it? However, once we see the significance we are much for likely to follow through.
Here’s to 2015! Make it your best year yet!
Photo Credit: http://tweakyourbiz.com/growth/2013/01/09/new-years-resolutions-5-reasons-why-they-fail/
