CRUSH YOUR NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS

At the start of every year, almost half the world’s population will draft a New Year resolution. It is the beginning of a new season. A new season provides us with the opportunity to become better versions of ourselves. However, research has found that most people seem to lose the zest of following through their New Year resolution by the second month. Whether your resolution has to do with your weight, finance, family, career etc., here are a few tips that can help you crush those goals all year round:

Make Up Your Mind: The seat of every decision-making process is the mind. When your mind is not made up, you may write the goal but won’t achieve it. It’s only “when your mind is set, change is cheap”. Everything you achieve and every step you take starts from the mind. Prepare your mind to be determined to achieve what it is you want to achieve.

Stay Close with what Inspires You

In achieving your goals there will be obstacles in your path. Events, people and things will exist to discourage you from pursuing your goals. This means that you have to keep fueling your desire to attain your set goals. You do that by staying close to the things that inspire you to high levels of success. It could be a book or movie, a mantra or personality or the lyrics of a song.

Whatever it is that inspires you, stay close to it so you can reach the finishing line. Reading autobiographies of successful people that i admire can be quite inspiring for me. I also watch a lot of videos like graduation speeches, i find them inspirational too. I try to hang out with friends that are positive and share the same values as i do, they tend to energize me a lot. How do you stay inspired? Can you share yours with us?

Have An Accountability Partner

An accountability partner keeps you on your toes. There is every tendency for you to slack if you don’t have one. This partner’s job is to help you review how far you have gone. He also helps you stay back on track if you lose sight of the goals you set.It is best to approach someone whom you respect and value their opinion. It could be a close friend, your mentor or coach. Someone you can check in own monthly or quarterly to discuss progress on your goals. It does not have to be in a formal setting, it could be over coffee or lunch. I normally prefer people that i trust, that have bought into my goals and are positive enough to motivate me or encourage my journey. They can either share tips if they are mentors or just listen and hold you accountable for the timelines you have set for meeting your goals. 

Dr Timothy Osemwinge a Medical Doctor and Personal Development Coach advises that belonging to peer groups of common interest can help you keep track of your goals.He added that your gadgets can also be a useful tool in helping you actualize your goals. For example,” the calendar that comes with your phone is not there for fun, you should use it as reminders”. For him, your spouse is the best accountability partner you can have.”Jealousy can be a factor if it is coming from outside” he says. “You are also an accountability partner to yourself if you are being real to yourself” he concludes.

Be Flexible

Sometimes, things may not pan out as you planned. If things aren’t working out as you envisaged, you could tweak your plans or try other options. Oprah Winfery puts it this way: “Do what you have to do until you can do what you want to do.”. So when during the year your plans seem not to follow the predetermined path consider changing or adapting them, especially if you have tried severally and it does not impact your overall Vison. I started my career as a technical person or Engineer and later on moved to Sales. I had to be flexible when I discovered it could still lead me to a path in Management which was my bigger vision.

Develop a Personal Mantra

Words are powerful. We are happy or angry at people depending on the words they say to us. You may never be happy with someone who is not careful with how they speak to you. People are motivated or inspired when they hear words that encourage them. You too can also develop some encouraging words. Turn words to mantras to push you to crush your goals at those moments when you experience challenges. It could be a line from a book, a movie, some excerpt in an advertisement etc.

I sometimes look for a phrase that has an emotional connection and means something powerful to me. I write them in a sticky paper and put them on my bathroom mirror. You could stick yours to your bedside, book or on the screen saver of your computer. The most powerful one is to have them in your head, memorised and tucked in to energize and motivate you when things get tough half way into you trying to achieve your goals. Let us know what your personal mantra is in the comment section if you have one.

Turn Big Goals to Small Steps

It’s often been advised that your long term goals be turned into actionable steps. Small steps taken one day at a time leads to the accomplishment of the ultimate goal.”In lieu of one, two or three big goals for the year, consider breaking them into smaller actions or activities that become your monthly goals that can be tackled throughout the year” advised Caroline Ceniza-Levine a Career Change Expert.

An example is to plan to earn a certain certification before the end of the year. You can decide your monthly goal for the first quarter of the year e,g registering for the exams, buying books, signing up for online classes. Then you set monthly goals on how much topics to read. Towards the exam date, your monthly goals could be more of checking in with online forums where fellow students reading for the same exam, discussing with them, solving past questions, embarking on any practical pieces of training etc. You can definitely turn any big goal this 2020 into smaller actionable steps.

READ ALSO: 5 Simple Ways to Make your 2020 Bigger and Better.