—Michael Phelps

“There will be obstacles. There will be doubters. There will be mistakes. But with hard work, there are no limits.”

Keep Your Resolutions Alive

At the beginning of the new year it is natural to reflect on the events of the last year to figure out what was good and what needs to change.

It's traditional to set New Year's resolution at this time and set some new goals for the new year.

Invariably, someone will ask, "What is your New Year's resolution?" So you naturally feel the pressure to give some type of answer.

The other approach is to spend some concerted time deciding what you need to change to make real progress for the next year.

Once you make your decision, and commit, you start right away putting your resolution into practice. You start out doing great and before you know it, you're completely off your game. Maybe doing nothing at all.

What happened?

Why did my New Year's Resolution fail?

If that happens to you, you are not alone. Everyone always starts out great, but by February, 90% of all resolutions are dead upon arrival.

What's even more surprising, half of Americans make New Year's resolutions, but less than 10% actually keep them.

In this post, we will look at "5 Reasons Your New Year's Resolutions Fail" and see how we can keep you on track.

Let's get started.

New Year’s Resolutions

The Honesty Indicator

To determine if your resolution has any chance of surviving the new year, the honesty indicator will help.

The honesty indicator looks at two important question about why you chose your resolution.

Question One: How badly do you want to accomplish your resolution?

Question Two: Do you think you can honestly achieve what you are after?

Did you choose your resolution because you were under pressure from friend or family? Or was it something your really want to accomplish? If you want it badly, you have passed the first part of the test.

Now look deep down in your heart, and ask do you really believe you can accomplish your goal. Can you look at yourself in the mirror and say with confidence, "I can do this".

If you can, you have passed the second part of the honesty indicator.

Not being honest with yourself is the first reason that New Year's resolutions fail.

New Year’s Resolutions

Specificity Test

Most people are familiar with SMART goals. SMART stand for

SMART stand for

Specific (simple, sensible, significant).
Measurable (meaningful, motivating).
Achievable (agreed, attainable).
Relevant (reasonable, realistic and resourced, results-based).
Timely (time bound)

The second reason New Year's resolutions fail is because they are not specific. If your resolution is vague, it has no specific destination. Therefore, you will find it hard to know when you reach it.

Specific resolutions are detailed. It's easy to determine how to accomplish it.

If you can clearly see it, you can clearly reach it.

New Year’s Resolutions

The Time Test

New Year’s resolutions usually go something like this:

The first week, excitement and enthusiasm allows us to adjust our schedule to squeeze in the new resolution. It’s hard at first to make the time in our schedule, but we do it anyway.

Over the next few weeks, the resolution gets bumped a few times by other more important emergencies. The next thing we know, our resolution has taken a back seat. We tell ourselves, it’s OK because we will get back on track later.

Soon the resolution is totally lost. There is no time in the schedule anymore.

The third cause of failure is make making time for your resolution.

Win the time test by making your resolution a habit. Make a slot in your schedule everyday until working your resolution becomes a habit.

It may take some time to get that habit started, but once you get going, it becomes easier to maintain. You can do it.

New Year’s Resolutions

Realistic Resolutions

The Realistic Resolution Test asks the question: "Is your new year's resolution a realistic one?" Your resolution may be a noble one but is it realistic for you?

Unrealistic resolution syndrome is the fourth reason New Year’s resolutions fail.

Often times people choose resolutions that are so big that most normal human beings could never achieve them. It may be possible, but not very realistic for you.

Examine your resolutions in the light of your own capabilities. Do you have the resources, time, and skills to make it happen?

The thing that really matters is determining what you realistically can achieve.

New Year’s Resolutions

Risk and Reward Test

Risks and rewards are something most people don’t think to consciously examine during the resolution setting process. Doing anything worthwhile certainly does have both risks and rewards. But how many people actually account for each?

The Short Game

We can examine the risks daily to see if there is a way to mitigate them ahead of time. If we are doing this on a daily basis, the risks are smaller and easily managed.

Like the saying goes, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”, we can stay on track with some minor modifications along the way.

And let’s treat rewards the same way. Let’s build in a small reward each day for the accomplishment of a task that puts us closer to our final destination.

It’s surprising how many people are quick to encourage their friends and family for their small achievements, but somehow neglect to do the same for themselves. This year makes it a point to build a reward system into your activities every day.

Get in the habit of treating yourself well, giving yourself some type of reward everyday. Pamper yourself with praise and kind words of encouragement. This will keep you motivated to keep working enthusiastically throughout the year.

Conclusion

This year, our resolutions should be ones that we have honestly considered to be the ones that we really want, and feel we have what it takes to make them a reality. We increase our chances for joining the 10% of people who actually achieve their goals.

Next, really look at our resolution to make sure that the fine details are there. The more specific the better. Just to make sure we have a clear target, quantify our resolution in concrete terms, so that it can be easily tracked. That way when we arrive at our goals, there’s no mistake that we are there.

In conjunction to allocating the time, make sure our resolution is realistic. Do we have all the resources, skills, and time to devote to our resolutions. Break our resolution down into smaller chunks. Just be realistic.

And lastly, don’t wait until the end of the year to deal with the risks and rewards. Play the Short Game, and manage both on a daily basis. Most importantly, please treat ourselves well, all year round. Treat ourselves with plenty of rewards, kind words, and even buy ourselves a gift for a job well done.

New beginnings are always filled with hope and possibilities for a better future.

Let’s make ours one that we are sure to succeed.

Question?

What New Year's Resolution did you make this year?

Thank You

Hope it helps you in some way.

Please post a comment below, and let me know what you think.

Share it with the Super Achievers you know, and join our mailing list for more helpful tips.

The information you share with someone could be the difference between success and failure in their life.

And remember,

"Make something great happen today."