It is that time of year again..

The time when people sweep the past behind them and embrace new beginnings. What makes the New Year great is that it forces you to evaluate everything you’ve done over the previous year. Most of us complain because we feel we haven’t accomplished much. I see it every year; people set big goals for themselves and end up stopping after the first month. I am guilty of it. If you’re anything like me, you feel a bit anxious about the New Year. Therefore, you doubt your ability to achieve them this time around.

The reason why gyms get the most sign-ups in January is because people genuinely want to change, but why then do they stop going after a month?

I’m a big fan of New Year’s resolutions. “New Year’s resolutions” are yearly goals that you set for yourself at the beginning of a new year. They usually have to do with fitness, saving money, education, etc.

People often make New Year’s resolutions at the beginning of the year but don’t end up keeping them. That used to happen to me too. Then one year I got serious about my resolutions and started using some of the techniques that I’m going to describe below. I ended up achieving all of my New Year’s resolutions that year, and it felt great!

According to a study 52% of resolution-makers were confident that they’d achieve their goals, yet only 12% succeeded. What was the secret? Those who took meaningful steps to achieve their resolutions were far more likely to achieve their desires than those who made no specific commitments.

If you really want to see results this year, it’s critical that you set your goals with sincerity, and set yourself up for success.

To lay the foundation, here’s what you need to know: Humans are goal-seeking creatures. Our brains are hardwired to align our outer and inner worlds. If we deliberately, rather than passively, seek something, we will find it. It’s the law of attraction. If you take the time to clearly define what you want and chart a realistic course, you will be successful. It sounds simple because it is. Where most people fall short is personal accountability.

To hold yourself responsible, practice these goal setting tips:

1. Only pick three goals

You should have one really important goal that you’re going to achieve no matter what. You can set two other goals to work toward as well. Just remember to decide which goal is your “main” one.

Why am I being so restrictive? Because if you try to do more than three things at once, you’ll get lost. You’ll lost track of what’s most important. You’ll start to neglect one of your goals, and then you’ll feel guilty about it. Soon you’ll start to lose confidence in yourself. So stick with one main resolution and two secondary ones.

2. Be Realistic

The surest way to fall short of your goal is to make your goal unattainable. For instance, resolving to NEVER eat your favourite food again is setting you up to fail. Instead, strive for a goal that is attainable, such as avoiding it more often than you do now.

3. Be as specific as possible

A common mistake people make is setting big vague goals like, “To be healthier.” Instead, make your resolution specific, with a tangible, achievable outcome. Rather than saying, “I want to exercise more,” determine specifically what outcome you want to achieve whether that is a certain body weight or a body fat percentage you want to reach.

Then, visualize what good will come when your goals and desires are met. What does it feel like? What does it look like? It also helps to have something simple, tangible, and positive to repeat to yourself over and over again.

4. Find enough reasons

Reasons give you the motivation, the push to achieve whatever you set out as a goal. Find strong enough reasons for wanting to achieve your goal and chances are you will achieve it. Ask yourself “Why do you want to achieve your goal?” and write out all answers that pop out in your mind.

5. Write it down

Writing down your goal and your reasons on a piece of paper will get you going and keep you accountable to yourself. It helps if you announce your goal to close friends that will also keep an eye on your goal during the following months and comment on your progress.

6. Write an action plan

Before you take any action, you need to write out all possible steps that you can take to achieve your goals. However, the list is not intended to be the actual action plan you will follow but it is a good start to have many options in achieving your outcome. Using the pareto principle, 20% of your action list will produce 80% of your results, thus you won’t need to tick off all items on your action list to achieve your desired outcome. If you set a big goal without a step-by-step plan, it can be overwhelming and trigger frustration or negative thoughts that get in the way of your success. But by planning and accomplishing one small thing at a time, you’ll stay on track, focused, and positive.

7. Make Time

Be sure to set aside time for yourself to achieve your goals. If you really want to lose weight, you might set aside three to four hour-blocks per week, and plan one day every month to track your progress. Plot out time in your weekly schedule for runs and time at the gym.

8. Take the first step

Start by doing something small, like finding out more information about your present situation compared to your desired outcome. It can be a small step like going to some gyms to find out about subscription plans and pricing or visiting a dietician to figure out your current weight and your desired fat %.

9. Break down goal into smaller chunks

A goal to lose 30 Kgs sounds and looks massive so you need to break it down to smaller chunks. Over a year you need to lose 2.5 Kg per month. Every month, keep track of your progress and make adjustments to your nutrition and exercise schedule accordingly.

10. Celebrate magic moments

During the process of working towards your goals you need to have fun and enjoy small wins. So whenever you reach a small milestone, do celebrate it by doing something you like. If the goal has to do with losing weight, it’s better if you celebrate your magic moment by buying something which is not food-related!

11. Stick to It

Experts say it takes about 21 days for a new activity to become a habit and six months for it to become part of your personality. It won’t happen overnight, so be persistent and patient!

12. Don’t Quit After One Slip Up

New Year’s resolutions usually involve trying to make some changes in your lifestyle. Change is hard, and it is not going to happen all at once. There will be stumbles and slip-ups along the way. Don’t quit. Trying to maintain positive thinking is an important part of finding the resolve to pick yourself up and try again. Beating yourself up about mistakes is not going to get you any closer to accomplishing your goal. Giving self-encouragement and space to try, and to make mistakes, and to try again is the key to making lifestyle changes.

13. Getting professional help

Having a coach that will watch your progress and provide the motivation is always a good idea. Alternatively, you can use a friend and you can always reciprocate by helping your friend in one of their goals.

You can also seek professional help from a personal trainer to help you meet your fitness goals. If you are dealing with issues of self-doubt, these can seriously get in the way of you meeting your other goals—so do yourself a favour, and address such issues head on.

14. Measure your progress

A big problem with New Year’s resolutions is they are such a one-off. Once a year, we “resolve” to do things differently — but this burst of motivation inevitably fails as we slip back into everyday life, and we forget about our goals. Research in goal setting consistently finds that feedback on how you’re progressing is vital for staying motivated and achieving your goals.
If you really want to keep your resolutions, setting them once isn’t going to cut it: it’s vital that you check in and ask yourself: How am I doing? Have I made as much progress towards this goal as I’d like? Is there anything I can do to improve my plan going forwards? Is this a goal I really still care about?

As well as allowing you to refine your goals and plans, this is an opportunity to regain that motivation and excitement you felt when you initially made those resolutions on January 1st. Because at the end of the day, that’s why we so often fail to keep our resolutions: we forget about them and why they’re important.

Finally

If your New Year’s resolutions from last year have gone unresolved, you’re not alone. Now a New Year offers another opportunity to achieve your goals, and these tips should help you keep to your New Year’s resolutions.

Are you feeling more prepared to tackle your annual resolution? If you haven’t made one already, you can still get started on your plans. Here’s to your new year's goals!