3 Steps to Achieve Your New Year’s Resolutions

Well, you made it all the way to January 2. So how are those resolutions going?

In all seriousness, it is estimated that nearly 4 out of 5 New Year’s resolutions each year go unfulfilled. Some of that, I think, is because some people make resolutions just site because they feel like they have to, and never actually intend to do them.

For others, though, it is simply not knowing how to attack those resolutions. So, if you made some goals for 2019 and want to help yourself in working through them, here are a few practical steps.

Make Mini Goals

If you make one massive goal for the year, seeing your progress can be very hard. But if you make a few mini goals along the way that help you achieve the one larger resolution, you can more easily track how you are doing.

For example, if you set a goal of paying off $6000 worth of debt this year, that seems so overwhelming. But if you, then, break that down, that is $500 each month. That is far easier to track. By the end of February, have you paid off $1000? If so, you are right on schedule. If not, you need to recalibrate how you are going to get back on track.

Setting these mini goals along the way can help with goals in weight loss, reading a certain number of books, saving money, and many other common resolutions.

Schedule

Here is a “secret” that all of us know, but some personality types cannot stand: if you put things on the calendar, they tend to happen more often than if you don’t. But that takes actually being willing to put them on your calendar.

When it comes to reaching your goals, that means that you need to set aside time each day or each week to work on those goals. For some, putting it just on a day on the calendar is not enough. Some of us need to put the day and time on there, so it is scheduled into our busy lives.

And you may think this only works for goals that deal with things like exercise or other things that commonly take a block of time. But that’s not true. What is wrong with scheduling time to read, or to work on learning a new skill, or even working on your family’s budget?

Give Yourself Grace

What happens when you aren’t quite on track to complete one of those lofty resolutions for the year? Too many people just give up and say they will wait until the next year to get going on it again.

Instead, give yourself some grace. Back to our example of paying off debt. What if, at the middle of the year, you have only paid off $2000, instead of the $3000 you need to have done. A lot of people would just use that as an excuse to start spending again and then wait until next year to pay off debt. But, by then, they will have added to their debt and the cycle will continue.

So, take a step toward recalibrating. You may not pay off $6000 this year, but is it so bad if you “only” pay off $5000? See, that’s better than putting yourself back into more debt!

There you go. Three ways to work on those resolutions and make progress. Now, go them ’em!