We are officially one month into the New Year. How are you doing with your New Year’s resolutions? Have you been able to keep them? If you haven’t kept them, don’t worry. You are not alone.
In fact, it is estimated that 34% of those who set goals do not even keep their New Year’s resolutions into February. And, only 46% of Americans are still holding on their New Year’s resolutions after six months with only 12% finishing the year accomplishing their goals.
So, what should you do if you have let your New Year’s resolutions slide already? Here are a few tips to help you…
Start Fresh – Get Back On Track
Okay, you have had a slip with your resolutions and goals. It is no big deal. Get back up on the horse and go again.
Think back to that sense of drive and passion that you had on the first day of January and try to recreate that feeling. Forget that your slip ever even happened in the first place. Pretend that today is the very first day of the New Year and go again.
Maybe You Need New Goals
Maybe your goals weren’t your goals after all. How many years have you been saying that you want to hit the gym, lose weight, get rid of your credit card debt, or complete some other lofty goal that you have had?
It is not that your goals and New Year’s resolutions are wrong. It may actually be an indication that the goals that you set really were not that important to you to start with after all. It may be a hard pill to swallow though and admit that you really, deep down don’t want to commit to something.
Take Smaller Steps And Refocus
Maybe your problem is that you have too many goals and New Year’s resolutions. Why not pick only the most important one to you and focus on that one? List out the small baby steps that you need to take in order to accomplish that goal.
If it is a yearlong goal, what are the metrics that you need to hit each quarter? What if you took it month by month or even week by week? How do you eat an elephant? Small bits.
You Only Need 30 Days
I am completely fascinated by Matt Cutts’ video on TED. Here is the link to see how to try something new for 30 days and how it can change your life. This video is absolutely awesome, and it got me hooked on watching all of these great videos on TED.
For those of you who do not know who he is, Matt Cutts is one of the lead software engineers at Google. You can do anything for 30 days at a time, and once you take that small bite for 30 days of your goal, you have probably started a new habit.
Take it slow, tackle your goal for 30 days, and roll that success into your next 30 days and the next and finally the entire year.
What about you? Have you slipped already with your New Year’s resolutions? How have you gotten back up or have you? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comment section.
I have gotten behind in some of my goals due to life (dental surgery, etc.) but they’re still uppermost in my mind. It’s not a race but a journey.
Great tips for those that aren’t as motivated.:)
I think I’m going to have to come up with new goals because I’ve already completed a whole bunch of them! maybe i went too easy on myself.
I think I’m doing ok, but I like checking up on them to make sure.
I’m one of those people who avoid making yearly resolutions. Instead, I break things down into smaller (more palatable) portions – I break my earnings goals down by the week, my budget by the month. They help me stay focused and not get overwhelmed by the big picture.