10 Success Tips for Your 2007 New Years Resolution, By: Dave DePew
Top 10 Ways to have a Successful 2007! A resolution is a decision, but a decision to do something only has power if you act on it. How do we move into action?
Do we jump right in or take the time to create a plan?
Both ways can work very well. Starting with any sort of action is always a good thing, but you should definitely take the time to build a plan for how you will reach your goals.
I would imagine that some point in your life you have set some goals. I would also venture to bet that you have failed at more than you have accomplished. Don’t be discouraged by this! All successful people must fail in order to succeed! Chances are, at some time in your life you've made a few “New Year's Resolution”. I know I have made my share and broken all of them on the way to achieving any level of success.
I can’t promise you that this year will be a success in your eyes, I have no idea how you envision success, but I can guaranty if you make an effort every day to follow the advice in this article you will experience some major changes!
The power to succeed rests in your hands. What I can offer you is some sage advice and my newest top 10 success tips for your 2007 New Years Resolution.
1. Be committed to your goal!
A New Year's resolution is a commitment that a person makes to create new and better habits. Many of these resolutions are often expected to be part of a new and better lifestyle. The individual who makes these resolutions usually envisions adding events and goals that involve creating more vitality, better appearance and over all better health.
Don’t enter into your goal lightly! Make sure you realize what your goal means to you and what it will provide you when you accomplish it along with what comes out of developing new and better lifestyle habits.
2. New Year's Resolutions need to be quick!
The best new year’s resolution are the ones that don’t take months and months to accomplish. A resolution should be only a smaller part of a larger plan. Have a long term plan in place for your goals, but make New year’s resolutions only a short or midterm ranged goal. This allows you to feel a sense of accomplishment from your efforts and see that you are on your way to reaching your longer term goals.
Your nearly guaranteed to throw in the towel if it takes a long time to see any sort of results. Starting a workout program that includes some weight training, some cardio conditioning and some stretching can be a great start! Resolving to drop 50 pounds of fat and gain 30 pounds of rock hard muscle is best as one of those along term goals.
3. Keep your list of Resolutions small!
The worst thing a person can do is create some sort of exhaustive “must do” list! The longer the list the more difficult it becomes to focus on what you “get to do” in order to achieve your over all goal. The longer the list, the more difficult it becomes to assess how well you are at maintaining your commitment. The last thing you want is to have your New Year's Resolutions just create some added stress.
It is the short-term smaller goals are easier to keep. These same goals build a great foundation of accomplishments to build off.
4. Share your New Year's Resolutions!
This can be a tough one for some people, especially when we feel that others question our level of commitment. The reality is that accountability can go a long way in insuring our long term success. Tell your co-workers, friends and family members what your goals are and ask them to help support desire to make better choices. The people who love you will want you to be successful. If you can join a club or create a support group that shares your Resolution. The power that comes from a group is the most inspiring and motivational tool you can add.
5. Create a plan!
Yes, the plan is way down here at number 5. The reality is that a plan can be very simple at first and something that you write down on a napkin, but over time you can build and refine your action plan to become more specific. A certain level of flexibility is important. Even if it is weeks past January 1st you don’t need some sort of 15 pages manual on what you need to do to be successful. Create the right mind-set now and your plan will be something that is free to evolve over time. We all have the same 24 hours of the day, how will you best organize your day for success? More importantly how will you learn from all the times that nothing goes according to “the plan”?
6. Avoid the “NEVER AGAIN” Diet Resolutions!
It isn’t wise to start out your goals with the idea that you will never eat your favorite foods again. It is important that we realize how certain foods make us feel and what part they play in our lives. That said, if the foods you are eating are playing the part of lots of fat on your ass, you can clearly realize that it is important to reduce theses foods from your nutritional plan. There is a time and place for desserts in your nutrition plan and typically it might be in much smaller amounts to what you might have indulged in before setting your goals. The point is that it is rare to have a New year’s diet resolution work with the “NEVER AGAIN” method.
7. Take one day at a time!
This is one of those AA 12 steps that have been used over and over again in all sorts of goal setting programs. Hey, it works! By taking one day at a time or viewing your day as many parts you can have a better assessment of how well your plan is working. When we take one day at a time we tend to obsess less over any occasional slips on our diet or missing a morning workout. Instead we find it easier to maintain a commitment to making each day the best we can. We also create more opportunities for success and become more proactive rather than reactive.
8. Create a better voice!
Most of us don’t speak to our self with the best vocabulary. That is why we must become more aware of the speech we use when we internally dialog. Admit it or not we talk to ourselves! How do you speak to your best friend? (The best friend is YOU!) Do you provide a supportive comforting voice or does your internal dialog sound less than supportive? So, how would you encourage your best friend? If you are having trouble with this part, listen to how others speak to you when you feel most comforted and encouraged. How can you create this same support to carry with you at all times? Start off by picking up the phone and calling that supportive and encouraging friend.
9. Evaluate and reward yourself everyday!
This isn’t when I tell you that if you have been good on your diet you can blow it with a box of donuts or bag of chocolates chip cookies. Instead, I’m recommending that you create a personal system of evaluating and rewarding your daily success.
A reward system is very important. With our kids my wife and I use a sticker chart to create a set of rewards that build to a much larger reward. I’m not telling you to create a sticker chart, but you will benefit from some sort of system that measures your program adherence.
By tracking and evaluating all of your success you start to see a path that leads to your large term goal.
Just make sure that you do take the time to celebrate your success by treating yourself to something that you enjoy.
10. Stay the course!
Regardless of what results you have hoped to get from your efforts, do recognize the achievements you can see. Also recognize the results others see in you. Habits take time. Most behavioral experts claim that a new habit can be formed in as little as 21 days, but this doesn’t guarantee that you will see all the results your after in this period of time.
Be thankful you have created some new activities, started eating better, quit old destructive habits, found away to bring more balance into your life and that your are moving towards a better healthier lifestyle.
I want you to have great results just as much as you, but if you despair or quit you will not realize your greatest potential.
If you get derailed, just start over! Your New Year’s Resolution could just as easily be made a Wednesday afternoon resolution!
