My New Year’s Resolutions
New Year’s hasn’t always been my favorite holiday. It’s because its a time of resolutions and for me it always feels like a setup for failure and disappointment. This changed when I realized that having resolutions wasn’t a final exam or a test of who I am. New Year’s can be a chance to take stock of your goals, who you want to be, and where your life is headed. It’s an opportunity for course correction and growth!
This year my New Year’s resolution is to share my journey and goals with YOU. Once a month, I will submit an update on my blog. I will share my successes and challenges along the way as well as helpful tips and techniques that I have learned. Look for my first entry the second week of January. It will have my goals as well as the strategies that I will be using!
If you are thinking about your own New Year’s Resolutions, here are a few important strategies to make 2017 the best year yet!
Purpose: Make sure you are clear on the reason WHY you want to accomplish your resolutions. If you want to lose weight, is it so you can feel good again and to have more energy? If so, why? Perhaps its so you can keep up with your growing family, or wanting to experience better health. Whatever YOUR reason is, be clear about it and connect with it on an emotional level. It has to matter. And when the time comes when it will be hard (and it will be) remembering your why can help you push through.
Goal Setting: Two things you want to do when you are setting goals for yourself.
1. Be specific about the goals you are setting. For an example, don’t just put down “I want to run a 5k.” Put down the exact time you want to accomplish and by when – “Run a 5k in 28 minutes or less before April 30, 2017.”
2. Tier your goals. What do I mean? Have 3 levels of goals. Start with Run a 5k in 35 minutes. Then an intermediate goal of 32 minutes and then the final goal of running a 5k in 28 minutes. You don’t have to build Rome overnight!
Reward and be kind to yourself: You will fail or slip up on the way. No problem. Don’t beat yourself up. Look at each slip up as an opportunity to BOUNCE BACK and to grow. It isn’t about perfection. It’s about progress and the only way you really fail is if you quit altogether. So be kind to yourself and keep pushing forward! AND when you do push forward and you’re doing well, reward yourself! Buy yourself a new dress or take a staycation. Celebrate! Tie a reward to each tier of your goals.
New Year’s doesn’t have to be something we shy away from. Let’s take this blank canvas available to us and make something awesome and beautiful!
