How to Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions
What is a New Year’s Resolution? If you think about it, it’s simply a goal or a dream that you hope to accomplish within a specific timeline – the New Year. When determining my New Year’s resolutions I decided to research why most people don’t keep them for more than a few months. I found that the same issues kept resurfacing; the goals were unrealistic, they did not have a specific and documented timeline, the steps to successfully achieving the goal were not identified, and most people did not hold themselves accountable to reach their goals.
Basically, if you really break it down, the simple steps used in project management were not practiced. Come on, we all know every successful project follows the same basic steps: identify the goal, plan, organize, manage resources/timelines and monitor progress. With this in mind, I thought back to my days of project management training and developed a series of 5 steps that I hope will help you make and keep your New Year’s Resolutions.
Step 1: Identify Your Goals Begin with brainstorming. By writing down what you want to accomplish in life your dreams become much more real, and you begin to determine what could actually become reality. I usually recommend that you look at all aspects of your life which may include your financial well-being, health, emotional state, career, self growth, personal relationships, etc.
Break down each dream into complete, focused and realistic goals. If your dream in life is to be financially fit then think about what tasks you need to take in order to reach your goal. These tasks now become your goals. Keep in mind they must be realistic and manageable such as pay off credit card debt, get on a budget, begin contributing to a retirement plan, etc.
Step 2: Determine Your Timeline Build three categories and label them Short, Intermediate and Long. Only you can determine what each timeline means. Personally, I believe short-term should not be more than 6 months, intermediate 12 months, and long-term is for goals that will take one year or more to achieve. Then, place each goal into the appropriate category based on the timeline you feel is realistic.
Step 3: Define Action Items Perhaps one of your dreams is leading a healthier lifestyle and in order to achieve this a short-term goals is to lose 10 pounds within three months. You then determine that this goal can be achieved if you focus on losing 1 pound a week. Write down all of the action items that you feel need to occur to help you attain that goal. Specific action items may be:
Goal: Lose 10 pounds in three months
Task
1. Research and choose diet
2. Join a gym
3. Get rid of all starches or sugar in the cabinets
4. Begin a cardio routine
5. Hire a personal trainer
Step 4: Schedule Your Tasks This is where the hard part begins. Many of us know what goals we want to accomplish but we don’t hold ourselves accountable for their success. I suggest putting the tasks you have identified in order of importance and realistically determine a timeline that you can track. Try beginning at the end then work backwards. If your target date is April 1st then start there and assign the tasks a timeline based on the date you want to have your goal accomplished. To help track my progress, I use an online calendar and set alerts to let me know when the due date for completion is approaching. Here’s an example:
Goal: Lose 10 pounds by April 1st – 15 weeks
-
Task and Timeline
Check progress and adjust workout schedule and calorie intake – Weeks 4 through 15
Hire a personal trainer or implement a workout plan – Week 3
Begin cardio routine with group classes – Week 2
Join a gym and learn equipment and group class schedule – Week 2
Determine a meal plan and workout schedule – Week 2
Research and choose diet and exercise need – Week 1
Step 5: Monitor and Adjust as Roadblocks OccurRemember that setbacks and adjustments may occur. Think about all of the times you’ve mapped out a route to a destination only to find an accident or construction along the way. You don’t turn around and go home – right? You adjust your plan accordingly and continue. You may be a little late but you still arrive at your destination. Many people begin the goal setting process but get thrown off course the minute things don’t go as planned. Keep the mindset that roadblocks will happen. If you continue to monitor and adjust your plan as they occur, you will be successful in reaching your goal.
Here is a simple and easy template to help you get started on setting and keeping your New Year’s Resolutions.