Happy New Year, Team!
Ah…A fresh start.
There’s so much hope and promise this time of year.
Maybe you’ve set some resolutions in past years. Maybe those
resolutions stuck…and maybe they didn’t.
If not, why not? How can we approach our resolutions differently this
year to ensure we STICK with them long-term?
The key – Focus on the PROCESS…Not The Result.
Follow the framework below to nail your resolutions this year, instead of
bailing on them after the first few months of the year:
Want your New Years Resolutions to stick this year?
- Set S.M.A.R.T Goals.
SMART goals are:
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Time-Bound
“I will lose 20lbs” is not a SMART goal.
“I will lose 20lbs by April 1st. To do this, I will exercise 3 days per
week, eat protein and vegetables at every meal, and get quality sleep
for at least 7 hours every weeknight.” is a SMART goal.
Specific: Exercise 3 days per week, eat protein and vegetables at
every meal, and 7 hours of sleep per night.
Measurable: 20lbs
Achievable: Setting realistic parameters (diet, nutrition, and sleep)
and realistic time frames (April 1st). Work until 8pm every night?
Shutting off devices at 7:30 is likely not an achievable goal for you.
Your individual process needs to fit within your lifestyle.
Relevant: Will the process actually lead you towards your goal? In
this case, it will.
Time-Bound: April 1st.
SMART goals provide a process. A process is a plan. Without a clear
plan, we can plan to get nowhere.
. “I Will (BEHAVIOR) at (TIME) in (LOCATION).”
“At 5:30pm on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I will exercise at
BOLT”.
“On Sunday mornings before noon, I will prepare lunches for the
week in the kitchen.”
“At 7:30pm every night, I will turn my electronic devices off and read
in the bedroom.”
By setting these parameters, you give yourself no wiggle room.
With no wiggle room, you will complete the tasks you set out to
complete. Through completing your tasks, you will build habits.
This may sound rigid and restricting to you.
It is.
When developing new habits that require huge amounts of willpower
and mental work, we will need to build stronger walls around the
tasks at hand.
Over time, these tasks require less oversight. They become more
automatic. We start to feel worse about not performing our tasks
than actually performing them. The walls become less necessary.
When you have built habits, you can experience more flexibility. When
we have reached this point, we have truly set ourselves up for longterm success.
You need to learn the rules before having the right to break them.
State Troopers can speed on the highway.
- “When ‘Situation X’ Arises, I Will Perform ‘Response Y’.”
Life will naturally get in the way of your “I will…” statements.
Your kids will have a rescheduled practice during your exercise time.
Your spouse will be traveling, leaving you to the household duties and no time for meal
preparation on Sunday morning.
You will have a work emergency, forcing you to stay on your devices past 7:30pm.
“When I miss my 5:30 workout at BOLT, I will go at 6am the next day.”
“When I cannot meal prep on Sunday, I will buy pre-made chicken and vegetables at
Shoprite for Monday and Tuesday of that week.”
“When I am on my devices past 7:30pm, I will shut them off at 5:30pm the next day.”
Many times with New Years Resolutions, this is where folks fail.
Even if life is perfect for a few weeks and you are on point with all of your objectives,
something – at some point – will get in the way.
When this happens, a feeling of failure sets in.
Feelings of failure can lead down a nasty path. This nasty path ultimately leads to
quitting.
You didn’t fail. You just got unlucky.
Have a plan for the unlucky days/weeks/months. Don’t get wrapped up in the minutiae.
If things don’t go your way, have a plan B. Have a plan C. Understand that deviating
from the plan isn’t a failure. It’s a part of the process.
Successful people make adjustments.
2024 can be your year if you want it to be. It will require planning. It will be simple, but
won’t be easy. It will require work.
Anything that is worth it, does.