7 Steps to Help You Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions
If you’re like most other people in this country, any well-intentioned New Year’s resolutions you may have made for 2008 will have fallen by the wayside come 2009.
According to a 2005 survey, only 8% of people in the United States actually accomplish their resolutions (“New Statistics: … Are New Year’s Resolutions a Thing of the Past?,” Welch Media, Dec. 13, 2005).
Making Resolutions You Can Keep
Why so many unmet and abandoned goals? Some people bite off more than they can chew, setting resolutions that are unrealistic or simply making too many. Some put so much pressure on themselves to succeed, they give up at the first obstacle. Some just lose focus, their New Year’s resolve slipping away a little more each week.
When resolutions are big or vague, or when you haven’t really charted out how you’re going to achieve them, you’re more likely to give up. To have a successful New Year’s resolution, you need something concrete that you can accomplish and a well-defined path for getting there.
Setting Yourself Up for Success
If you have goals you want to reach or changes you want to make in ’08, these seven steps can help with turning your aspirations into resolutions you can actually keep and then keeping them.
1. Start with a list. Dedicate some time to deciding what’s most important to you and the things you really want to accomplish in 2008: Losing weight, saving money for a summer in Europe, taking that drama class that has absolutely nothing to do with your major. Let go of those things you think your parents, friends, boss, or professors want you to do, and write down only what’s meaningful to you. If your resolution isn’t something you really want, it’s unlikely you’ll see it through.
2. Choose one resolution and stick to it. Out of everything on your list, identify the three or four things you’re most passionate about or that are most urgent. From this short list, decide what takes top priority, your number one goal for 2008. With a singular focus instead of multiple resolutions, you won’t feel as overwhelmed and you’ll have a better chance of accomplishing your goal. Once you’re committed to your number one objective, go ahead and rank the rest of your short list: second priority, third, etc.
3. Be specific but realistic. Once you’ve identified your top priority for 2008, make sure it passes the SMART test: Your resolution needs to be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely. “Losing weight,” for instance, isn’t a SMART goal. But this is: Lose 15 pounds (specific, measurable, attainable) by June 1, 2008, (specific, timely) by going to the gym three times a week and eating healthy, nutritious food two out of three meals a day (specific, realistic).
4. Focus on the process, not the finish line. Don’t obsess about whether or not you’ll accomplish your goal — when you only focus on the end product, you’ll miss all the progress you’re making along the way. Instead, focus on the process and the small steps you need to take each day: Hitting the gym, eating a healthy meal. Break up your long-term goal (losing 15 pounds over five months) into smaller short-term goals to keep you going: “I will lose three pounds this month.”
5. Don’t beat yourself up. Realize that you’ll probably stumble along the way, whatever you’re going for, and give yourself permission to be less-than-perfect. Go easy on yourself when you miss a day at the gym or eat too much pizza at lunch. Focus on what you’ve done right — all the days you have gone to the gym or eaten healthy — instead of what went wrong. And then get back on track. If you put too much pressure on yourself to avoid failure at all costs, you may become discouraged, and you’ll be more likely to quit as soon as you hit a stumbling block.
6. Celebrate small victories. When you’ve met one of your smaller goals, say, losing three pounds out of your total 15, reward yourself with something you enjoy. Go to a movie, spend an extra hour on your XBox, buy yourself a new shirt or pair of jeans that look great on you. Decide what your reward will be for meeting your next mini-goal, and then work toward that. Rewards are great motivators and can help keep you going on those days when the end of the road seems hard to get to and still far away.
7. Repeat the process. Accomplishing your top goal may take some time. No worries. The key is making steady progress and working toward your mini-goals, one day at a time. Once you’ve met Priority #1, you can go back to the list you made in Step 1 and take on Priority #2. And if you can’t get to number two this year, don’t sweat it — you have next year. You’ll start 2009 with one successful resolution under your belt and the knowledge that you’re one of the small 8% who actually meet the New Year’s resolutions they make.
New Year’s Resolutions for Students
Need some ideas for your top priority for 2008? Try these lists of smart and realistic resolutions for students: