How to Make a New Year’s Resolution That You Really Will Achieve
Many Americans, some statistics say as much as 88 percent of the population, are hunkering down to create the most coveted, and the most loathed, goal of the year: The New Year’s Resolution. Among the top categories this year: - Health and fitness
- Personal finance
- Personal growth and interests
- Career
- Time management and organization
- Buying or improving a home
No matter which category your resolution falls into, you’ve surely got good intentions, and most Americans, of course, make a resolution with the mindset to keep it. However, according to a survey of 12,000 people, 30 percent of those who make resolutions have dumped them by February. Fast forward six months and four in five will have given up on their goal. Why is it so Hard to Keep a New Year’s Resolution? Chief among the reasons why many goal-setters fail is that they bite off more than they can chew. If your resolution is too complex, you are simply setting yourself up to fail. For instance, if your lifestyle is less-than-ideal health-wise, and you resolve to start eating right, exercising daily and drinking more water, while quitting smoking, you will likely become seriously overwhelmed. Instead, a resolution to eat five servings of vegetables a day would be beneficial, and attainable. Next, it’s important to keep things specific. Vague goals (such as “eat healthier”) leave too much room for misinterpretation and cheating, and won’t help keep you focused later on when your motivation starts to wane. Instead of saying you want to get out of debt this year, for instance, you need to resolve to “pay off X dollars of X credit card per month,” etc. Finally, keeping your motivation strong is essential to keeping any goal, let alone a monumental one like a New Year’s resolution. If you feel your motivation slipping away, it helps to imagine your original impetus for change. "Tap into what motivated you originally. What was it that made you want to change?” says Steve Uria, a personal trainer. "Find those feelings and re-boost them … unfortunately there's no one but you who can motivate yourself." Finding Your Inner Strength to Make and Achieve Your Goals You possess the innate ability to make and achieve any goal you wish. However, often negative thoughts, feelings and behaviors occupy us, and crowd out our natural state of well-being. The Sedona Method is a simple, effective technique --validated and proven by Harvard Medical School -- that will help you tap into your natural ability to release negative thoughts, allowing you to let go of whatever it is that is causing you to do things you later regret (such as breaking your New Year’s resolution). As you use The Sedona Method, you will find over time that all areas of your life radically improve. You will find yourself easily uncovering your true, positive self and realize that any goal you desire is well within your reach! Sources:
Media Life Magazine December 18, 2006
CNN.com Get Ready for a Breakthrough.
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