This post may contain affiliate links, which means I'll receive a commission if you purchase through my link, at no extra cost to you.
At the beginning of every New Year, you may have the best of intentions to set resolutions for your business and stick to it for the remainder of the year. While you may have the best intentions to see it through, life gets in the way, and you may start to back peddle on the promises that you meant to keep.
I once read that only 8% of individuals typically keep their New Year’s resolutions throughout the year. With such a low number of people actually following through on these resolutions, you may be hard-pressed to stick to the ones you made for your business last year.
Here are some tips to help you stick to those resolutions.
Take Daily Action
Align your daily actions with your goals. Write down three key goals. Write the three strategies you will use to achieve those goals. Each week, schedule the activities you will do to move toward those goals. When you prioritize your thinking and schedule your time to focus on your goals, you will achieve them with ease and confidence.
Start Small
Setting a lofty goal seems awesome, but the reality is, large goals can feel overwhelming. To avoid this, simply break your goal into smaller pieces. Outline small goals that can be reached in 30-90 days and include only those items that will help you reach your larger overall goal. When you break a large goal into manageable pieces, you’ll stay focused, accomplish more and increase your success!
Tell As Many People As You Can
Want the “true secret” to accomplishing your new-year resolution? Tell as many people as you can about it so that the next time they run into to you, they will ask you about how you are doing.
Why does this work? For one, you, yourself will challenge what you really want to commit to. Two, resolutions that are kept to yourself are optional since they are private.
Don’t Call It A New Year Resolution
After indulging during the holidays, we guilt or punish ourselves to start afresh in the New Year. The pressure takes hold and we fail straight out of the gate. About 50%, if not more, fail. Instead, work up to the new behavior or habit you want to create, and just keep doing it. Take the pressure off and start on another date so you can own it and live on your terms — not just a new-year date.
Set Realistic Goals
One of the biggest mistakes we make when it comes to setting (and not achieving) a resolution is we set unrealistic goals. For example, if my goal is to write a book then it’s important to have a plan or strategy. For example, create an outline, write 2,500 words per day, etc. When we take the time to make it more manageable, it makes the process more enjoyable and we get better results.
Write It Down
Studies demonstrate that writing down our goals, dreams and aspirations increase the odds of us achieving them. So put pen to paper to help hold yourself accountable. To support success, ensure your resolutions are attainable and measurable, set realistic expectations, and create a clear plan or path to support them.
Break It Down To 17-Week Goals
Instead of creating yearly goals, start out with 17-week goals. Within a year, you can have three rounds of 17-week goals, allowing for several days off for vacation and holidays. A shorter duration is easier to maintain. Let’s say you want to lose 15 pounds over the year; break that into three rounds of losing five pounds.
Don’t Beat Yourself Up
Perfection is unattainable. Minor missteps when pursuing your goals are completely normal. Don’t give up completely because you ate a brownie and broke your diet. Instead, ask yourself what you learned about yourself, your thinking or habits and what you want to do differently next time? Resolve by highlighting your learning and your vision’s benefits and get back on track.
Start With The End In Mind
Future perfect thinking would help. Take a deep breath, relax and think about the end of next year. Extroverts — imagine a friend asking next year about your success. Introverts — imagine reflecting on the same. Write down in present tense how you would describe your end-of-the-year success. Write the story of how you got there.
I hope these tips help you out! 😉
PS- In the New Year, make sure you check out some super cute clothing from Melanie Marie. Click here to shop!