THE 10 MOST COMMON NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS AND HOW TO SUCCEED

It’s that time of year again when millions of us make New Year’s resolutions.  We all intend to fulfil our resolutions and make the changes to our lives but whether it’s the time of year or lack of willpower, over half the people struggle to stick to their plan.  These are the top 10 resolutions according to Go Skills.

1. Exercise more
2. Lose weight
3. Get organized
4. Learn a new skill or hobby 
5. Live life to the fullest
6. Save more money / spend less money
7. Quit smoking
8. Spend more time with family and friends
9. Travel more
10. Read more

No-one wants to fail so here is a plan to help you follow through on your resolution.

If you want to realize your New Year’s resolution this year, follow these steps:

1. Mentally prepare for change

Changing habits is no easy task, so before diving head-first into your New Year’s resolution, it is important to take a step back and get ready for that impending change.  It’s perfect timing to take stock of the past year’s accomplishments.

You will want to keep upbeat with your new resolution, so you can use that positive association with last year’s accomplishments to remind you of those good feelings when you are feeling challenged.

As you start thinking about the changes you want to implement, make sure to do the following:

• Stay positive
• Try not to make big/quick changes
• Change should be gradual
• Build on smaller changes
• Allow a little room for error

2. Set a goal that motivates you

You would be surprised how often people set goals that are not for themselves. These goals could be dictated or coerced by a manager, spouse, or parental / peer pressure.

While it’s nice to have some external support, if you don’t share the same passion, the resolution has a small chance of succeeding and could even be dead on arrival.

Thus, it’s a safe bet if your resolutions align with the following:

• Your goals
• Your priorities
• Your dreams
• Your aspirations

3. Limit resolutions to a manageable amount

We only have so much attention span we can dedicate to self-improvement, so having too many resolutions is a great way not to achieve the many goals you have set out for yourself.

Thus, you should make a short list of resolutions that you can manage in the upcoming year. Knowing that short list of priorities is the hard part. The key here is to understand how to prioritise.

The final piece of the puzzle here is knowing your limitations and personal bandwidth. With that in mind, you should focus on your top priorities while balancing how much attention you can honestly devote to a resolution.

Final thought: It’s better to tackle one resolution well than multiple resolutions poorly. 

4. Be specific

When it comes to setting resolutions, it’s easy to set bad goals that could lead to poor follow through. Fortunately, SMART goal setting framework can help you craft better goals.

SMART goals are:

• Specific - Articulate the resolution as clearly as possible.
• Measurable - Quantify your resolution if possible.
• Attainable - Choose a goal within the realm of possibility, but yet challenging. .
• Relevant - Keep it relevant to your priorities and goals.
• Time-sensitive - Give yourself a time-frame in which to achieve a goal. A deadline will instil some urgency and provide a time when you can celebrate your success.

5. Break up big goals into smaller goals

A lot of us tend to be over eager and grandiose when it comes to resolutions. We have the best of intentions and may accidentally take on a goal that is too big to achieve. Thus, it’s helpful to divide a big goal into smaller goals that are more achievable.  Here are a few tips to help you make your massive goal more achievable:

• Create a list of sub-tasks
• Prioritise and order them
• Use a visual map to display
• Assign milestones to each task
• Decide how much time each task requires
• Allocate resources accordingly
• Focus on the next step, not the big goal 

6. Write down your goals

While it’s great to have goals, it is critical to document them in some way so as not to forget.  It will also help you clarify what it is you want to achieve. It forces you to make decisions and be precise with your words.  A written account of your goals is a constant reminder to take action.  We set goals to move forward, but there is a natural resistance to change. Your written goals spur you forward when you hit a speed bump or obstacle.  Finally, written goals are a reminder of how far you have come and what you have achieved. It’s a nice feeling to look at back at the end of next year, and know your resolution has come to fruition. It’s a reason to crack open that bottle of champagne and celebrate.

7. Share your resolutions with others

It’s great to make a resolution for yourself and maybe even write it down, but if no one else knows about it, it’s easy to forget about or even ignore. And when you don’t achieve it, no one will notice or care.

On the flip side, your counterparts who decided to tell someone about their goal feel something different. Now that they’ve gone public with their goal, they feel a sense of obligation and accountability. Essentially, if you don’t follow through, they are going to let everyone down.

Crazy as it sounds, this sense of guilt is often more powerful than self-motivation. The upshot here is that when you do succeed, the people you shared with will celebrate with you!

 8. Review your resolution regularly

Let’s face it; if you are not thinking about your resolution regularly, you are not going to follow through. Thus, a crucial part of realizing your goal is a regular review.

Here’s one way to build in goal review into your routine.

• Schedule a monthly “big picture” review during the first week of each month. This will serve as a planning meeting where you distribute smaller tasks and goals to different weeks throughout the month.
• Do a weekly check-in to check progress on the monthly goal.
• Set a daily reminder for smaller resolution tasks.

It may seem a little crazy to think about your resolution every single day, but it is those smaller incremental steps that lead to massive changes over the course of a single year.

9. If you fall off track, get back on quick

We’ve already established we should leave some room for mistakes and setbacks because we know change is difficult.

Keep the following ideas in mind:

• Skipping an intermediate task is not a complete failure
• Missing a goal by 10% or even 80% is not a complete failure
• Finishing a task late is not a complete failure
• A moment of weakness is meaningless in the grand scheme of things 

Setbacks can happen, but so long as they are handled correctly, they will not impact the big goal. The key is to avoid a defeatist attitude at all costs.  And if there is a setback, it’s important to understand what lead to that moment, and how you can avoid a similar situation in the future.  A few small mistakes shouldn’t spoil your resolution for the year!