As the year is winding down and we get ready for the inevitable New Year’s resolutions, here are some strategies to help you stick with those resolutions this year. Let’s go into this year as we have many of the years past, with a great outlook on how the year will go, and how we want it to go. There are several things we can do to heighten our chances for success with what we want to get out of the year to come. As with many of the other years, we usually don’t think of our resolutions until it is upon us. I’m suggesting that this is the complete wrong way to go about things. There needs to be some preparations put in place before we turn over that calendar to January. There is no better time than right now to prepare for next year, with Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up! (which are the biggest eating holidays of the year!)
Start now thinking about what you want out of next year. Whether it is health related or just life in general, just think about what you want out of the year. We can now start to form some goals for next year. Let’s make this year’s goals a little different than in years past as well. Goals are things that you can’t just throw out there and expect them to be reached. There is a process to make quality goals for yourself, which in the end makes them more probable to be reached. When you think about setting goals make them S.M.A.R.T. This five item checklist is quality control for your goals.
First , make sure your goals are Specific. This is as specific as possible. For example,
don’t say “I want to lose some weight this year.” Be more specific. Say, “I want to lose 15 pounds this year.” This makes what you are shooting for more concrete in your mind.
Next, make sure your goal is Measurable. You make them measureable to ensure that you have or have not reached them yet. Going back, if you just say that you want to lose weight, how will you know that you have reached the desired amount unless you state it! If you lose 1 pound, will you stop there just because you have “lost some weight?”
Moving on, make sure you set goals that are Attainable. Don’t set your goals too lofty! It’s a nice thought and good to set high goals, but don’t go over the top. Remember you have to reach these! Do some research into what you want, apply it to your life and see if it is in fact attainable.
Now, make sure your goal is Rewarding. You want to feel some accomplishment after reaching this goal. That’s why there is an end goal, the feeling, or even some other reward you will have for yourself after you have reached the goal. These often help in those times of low motivation. Think about the reward waiting for you at the end of the road and get moving! Go ahead spoil yourself when you reach it!
Lastly, make sure there is Time Table for your goal. Look at the year ahead, when do you want to reach your goal by? Set dates to have things done by and reminders along the way that the date is coming up.
Look at your goals for the next year. Do they meet all of the criteria? If they do, you are on your way!
Now go through and list things that need to be done for these goals to be reached in the time set for them. Be as specific as possible. What are you going to have to do to reach the goals? Remember, goals aren’t just going to be reached if you don’t put the work into it.
Now, let’s not wait until the new year to get these goals rolling. Why not start now? Put them in place and make them solidified before Thanksgiving gets here! In fact, why don’t we start setting Thanksgiving Resolutions! You can get a jump start on the year coming. There is no better time than now!
