Happy New Year! It’s that time of year again. You have made your New Year’s resolutions with so much excitement!
Oh yeah, those are your goals for 2022. You had a good time making them, and you know you can do it.
But now it’s a few days over New Year. The tension has eased, even the hangover is gone and you still have not started on your decisions, even though you have promised yourself to take them seriously this year.
You feel disappointed, demotivated and annoyed with yourself. For come now, how hard can it be? And you say to yourself: screw the targets; I’ll do it next year!
Is this a scenario you recognize?
When your decisions do not work
So why is this happening? Well, let me start by reassuring you. It’s not because there’s something wrong with you, so stop blaming yourself.
It’s not because your motivation is lacking, but let’s take a look at your goals.
Are they really your goals? Or are they determined by your surroundings?
What do I mean by this? Well, we are constantly bombarded by what society considers to be ‘correct’: how we should look, how healthy our lifestyle should be, where we should be in our careers before a certain age, how we are expected to be as parents etc.
And it’s easy to get influenced by these outside influences and start believing that they should be our goal. We end up forming our decisions about the foundation of society’s norms and not what we really want inside us.
When this happens, your energy and motivation around your goal will not be enough to see it through. Because that’s not really what you really want.
It all starts from the inside.
Create long-lasting solutions
Here’s a guide to setting New Year’s resolutions that you would like to keep.
1) Focus on what YOU really want
Not what you think will make others happy or what you think you need to do to fit into the norms of society, but what you really want in your heart and soul. Ask yourself: if money was not a purpose, what would I really want?
1A) Why do you want this goal?
Why is important. What emotions will it bring to you? Does the thought of having it make you feel happy and excited? Yes! You’re on the right track. None? Then go back to step 1.
2) Be very specific about your goal
If you want to lose weight, then instead of saying in 2022 that I will lose weight, make it more specific, I will lose 10 kilos in 2022 or I will run a half marathon before September 2022. The more specific you are, the the more realistic and the more achievable your goal becomes.
3) Explain your goal positively
Instead of formulating what you want to avoid – like “I do not want to be overweight anymore” – focus on what you want: “I want to be healthy and fit so I can go on this hiking holiday I have dreamed of. “The energy and motivation around your goal becomes completely different when you focus on what you want and not what you want to avoid.
4) Link your new behavior to an already existing behavior
If you ‘just’ add to an existing behavior, you’re more likely to keep doing it. If you run, for example: You can decide to run once more during the week or add 10 minutes to your running time and even set yourself the challenge of running a half marathon before the end of the year.
5) Take action every day towards your goal
Every little action is amazing. It will feel possible. If you start with big actions, the likelihood of you being consistent will be less than if you start with small, easily feasible actions.
Celebrate your journey
Remember, this is a process, and if you fall off the wagon for a day or even a few weeks, it does not mean you have failed. It’s never too late to come back.
Finally, celebrate yourself and your victories every step of the way.
You can do it!
Source: The Nordic Page