New Year's Resolutions...Are You Sticking to Yours?

By Brian Van Norman on | January 25, 2011 | Comments (0) | Share

Each holiday season, nearly half of all American adults (40-45%) take up a New Year’s resolution. The most common goals include: losing weight, quitting smoking, beating an addiction, saving money and being a better spouse. However, resolutions don’t always have to be about personal issues. Many of us make resolutions surrounding our work life, such as getting organized, improving client relationships, increasing sales and building company culture.

Sadly, though, less than 10% of people making a resolution are successful in a given year. I’ve personally made many resolutions only to break them a couple of weeks in. It can be a crazy cycle of resolving to change and then failing to follow through with it. So how do we break through the cycle of failure? Here are five ingredients to create a recipe for success:

1. Take a realistic approach – Set goals that you can actually achieve. If you reach for something unattainable like losing 50 pounds in two months you’re setting yourself up for failure right from the start. Take small steps toward success and you will feel the powerful rewards of reaching your goals.
2. Write out your goals – Putting your goals on paper gives them a concrete voice. Follow through by setting incremental goals and achieving them. Having a physical document will help hold you accountable for your actions, and referring to it when you are lacking energy to move forward can serve as a motivating factor.
3. Share your ambition – Let your friends and family know of your goals rather than keeping them a secret. In doing so, you’ll find that they will serve as extra motivation and support for your commitment to change for the better. Who knows, you may even inspire someone else to make a similar change.
4.  Keep track of your progress – Going hand in hand with writing out your goals, tracking your progress can be energizing. Write down each accomplishment along your journey. Seeing the small steps you are taking toward a larger goal will keep you motivated and moving forward.
5. Stick to your plan, but don’t get discouraged if you slip – It takes about 21 days for an activity to become a habit. We’re three weeks into 2011; how are you doing with your resolution so far? If your plan veers off course, don’t fret or beat yourself up.  Get back on track and keep striving toward your goal.  

A key to remember when working toward any goal is that your journey is a marathon not a sprint. Remember the tortoise and hare fable? Have a little faith in yourself and you can meet that resolution this year. This is what we mean by Never Stop Trying!