SACRAMENTO - Every January, motivated individuals make resolutions to improve their lives, achieve goals, or just try something new. Often times those resolutions are abandoned or forgotten about within a few months.
From lack of time to lack of motivation, people's promises to themselves are broken every year. In order to help you avoid the frustration of another New Year's resolution failure, News10 assembled six simple tips to keep you motivated and on track to achieving your goals for 2012.
1. Make it Attainable - Often times, people are so revved up about changing for the better in the new year, their enthusiasm plays too large a role in the declaration of their resolution. Rather than one huge goal, try assigning yourself smaller, more manageable resolutions and enjoy the sense of accomplishment in achieving them throughout the year. (Ex. If your goal is to run a marathon, but you haven't run in 10 years, try making resolutions of completing a 5k and 10k first).
2. Don't Make Too Many Goals - Wait, didn't you just say to make a series of smaller goals rather than one big goal? Yes, but within reason. Narrow it down to a quarterly plan, knocking off a couple goals every 4 months. Or even set a bi-yearly target date for a few smaller resolutions. For example, shoot for cleaning out that spare room and repainting the trim on the house by summer.
3. Write Down Your Resolution - Research has shown that people tend to follow through with actions when they write them down. Be specific, write down details and/or steps you'll need to take to accomplish the goal. Having a written plan of attack is like charting a map towards resolution success.
4. Hold Yourself Accountable - In addition to your resolution, come up with a punishment for failure. Nothing too serious obviously. And try to tie the punishment to the resolution so the consequences pick up the slack for your shortfall. If you fail to achieve your goal of losing 20 pounds, ban yourself from your favorite unhealthy snack for a month. If you fall short of saving a set amount of money, restrict yourself from eating out for a month.
5. Use the Buddy System - Like working out, some people do better when they team up with a partner. A buddy keeps you accountable and a little bit of friendly competition will drive you towards achieving your goal before your partner.
6. Don't Procrastinate - Strike while the iron's hot and capitalize on that New Year's buzz. Generally, those with resolutions come storming out of the gates but fade down the stretch. There's nothing wrong with that as long as your resolution doesn't keel over before the finish line, forcing you to mercifully put it out of its misery. Storm out of those gates. This way, if you hit a lull later, you've given yourself a bit of a cushion.
There you go. Six simple ways to make sure you accomplish your resolutions in 2012. So what are you waiting for? Jump on tip number six and good luck with your goals for the year.
News10/KXTV