Another year has rolled by and a New Year is here. Now is the perfect time to reflect and resolve to do things better and make this year your best year yet!
2016 may have been your best year yet, and you might be looking to go bigger and better in 2017.
Or 2016 might have been the year that you just managed to scrape through and you just want to get a step ahead in the new year.
Either way, there are tips and tools you can do to make your resolve stick. And making them stick is what you should be aiming to do, because if the facts are anything to go by then you will probably have broken your New Years Resolution by about lunchtime on New Years Day…. Well maybe a little longer.
According to Statisticsbrain.com only 8% of people are successful in achieving their New Year Resolutions. And these are the people who actually make resolutions.
If you’re determined to see your resolution through and be one of the 8% successful ones, then you might find these useful tips and tools to help you keep on track and succeed in the end:
1. Write your resolution down
Stats show that those who write their goals down are more likely to not only achieve their goals but to exceed them. Writing your goals down helps you really figure out what you want and think through the details of your goals. How are you going to achieve the goal, by when, and what plan are you going to set in place to get you there.
2. Be realistic in your expectations
This is probably one of the biggest reasons why people fail in their resolves or give up too early. You have set an unrealistic expectation for yourself that is significantly harder for you to achieve. If your New Years Resolution is to get up at 5am every morning, but you haven’t seen your alarm clock start with a time earlier than 8am for the last 4 years, then this might be an unrealistic expectation. Aiming to get up 30 minutes earlier for 3 months, then 30 minutes earlier again the following 3 months and gradually adjusting your alarm clock to ease yourself into a 5am wake up may be more of an acheivable goal.
3. Work out your why
A lot of New Year Resolutions are based on expectations that just don’t resonate. Again back to the 5 am example. If you are only getting up at 5am because everyone else does, then chances are your not going to enjoy doing it and your unlikely to continue doing it. If you have a strong reason for wanting to achieve a goal than you are far more likely to get there. If you want to lose weight because the excess baggage is affecting your health, then that is a more compelling reason for you to reach your weight loss goals than if you’re only wanting to lose weight because someone made an offhanded flippant remark that made you feel bad for 5 minutes.
4. Get help
Without a doubt, those who have a cheering squad / accountability buddy are setting themselves up to succeed than those who don’t. Find someone you know and trust to keep you accountable and on track. They can help remind you of the reasons you are wanting to reach your goals and help you track your progress. Even better, find a group who are all wanting to achieve the same thing and keep each other accountable. Weirdly we don’t really see a problem with letting ourselves down, but when it comes to letting down other people, we are less inclined to do so.
5. Consider your setbacks as setbacks and not failures
When you fall off the wagon or fail to reach a milestone in your quest to reach your New Year Resolution, don’t see it as a failure… see it as a setback. It’s a perfect opportunity to re-assess your plan and redefine your goal posts. Your may have set unrealistic expectations or something may have happened to make you go off track. Regardless, don’t consider it a failure. Just a minor hiccup. Remember, that you are doing it for yourself so there are no right or wrongs. The way I see it, when it comes to self improvement, it doesn’t matter how slow you go, as long as you don’t stop!
Remember the SMART Goals framework when setting any new goals. This ensures your goals are:
Download your FREE SMART goals cheat sheet here. And if you are ready to put pen to paper and write your resolutions down, then head over to our online shop and pick up a Goal Setting Workbook of your own.
And if you need a hand keeping on track with your goals, these online tools can help:
Goal Buddy – goal-buddy.com
Goals on Track – goalsontrack.com
Trello – trello.com
If you have any handy tips and tools that work for you, or you use and recommend a goal tracking tool, I’d love to hear about it in the comments.
Cheers to 2017 and making it your best year yet!
Disclosure: This article contains affilliate links which means I may receive a commission or free use of service if you decide to purchase from or sign up to any company noted in this article.
