Making New Year Resolutions That Stick

Last week, I looked back on the resolutions I set at the beginning of the year and was delighted that I had achieved three of my four goals. This was an unprecedented success, but I tried something new this last year.

If you want to take a different approach to your New Year’s resolutions, this may be the one for you. Use the questions below as part of your New Year’s Resolution ritual to ensure the change you are making is right for you and to set you on the best path to success.

Who are you setting the resolution for (honestly)?

Who are you setting the resolution for? Is it something you want, your partner would like, or perhaps something your children thought would be good for you?

Spoiler alert – if the resolution isn’t coming from you and for you, then it may not be the right one to focus on. Even if the change has a broader positive effect on your partner, family, friends or others, it does have to start with you.

An excellent way to look at resolution suggestions from other people is to set a team resolution in which you all play a part. This could be second on your list for the coming year and something for all to work towards.

Why this goal this year?

Now that you have identified a resolution, it’s time to ask yourself, Why? Why did you choose this, and why is it important to look at this in your life now?

What will achieving the goal mean for you by the end of this year and beyond? What’s going to happen if you don’t keep your resolve?

Knowing your why will help you find the motivation to pursue it even when things don’t run smoothly.

If you find that your initial choice falters at this stage, don’t worry. It may be that the real change you want to make is at a deeper level, and your initial choice is one part of it. Take some time with it and tease it out for yourself. Whatever the reason, spending some time here will help ensure that what you settle on is the right choice for you this year.

How will you know you’ve been successful?

We are halfway, and it’s time to move on. How will you know if you’ve been successful? Writing this down at the beginning is a reference point as you work through the year.

Being both an optimist and a realist, I write down two outcomes: how will I know I’ve been successful, and how will I know I’ve done good enough? The “good enough” option is the minimum I need to achieve to consider my resolution complete and helps keep my inner perfectionist in check.

When and where will you take action?

Finally, when and where will you work on your resolution? This will depend on whether you are introducing something new into your life or replacing an existing habit.

If it is something new, write down when in the week this will take place, along with where that will be. Sometimes, changes will need to be made in other parts of your life to make the space, so planning this out in advance is a great idea.

If you want to change an existing habit, consider when and where the triggers for that habit are for you. Decide what you will do in those situations, and have a simple action plan.

And that’s it. I’ve just completed my resolutions for the year and look forward to seeing what I can achieve. Now it’s over to you!

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