Happy New Year! It’s that time of year again, a time to review all your successes and well, your lack of successes shall we say. If you’re like many people, you’re also likely to come up with another wish list of goals for the coming year. And, like many people, these goals are likely to be focused on intensely for the first week, month, or even six weeks for those who are truly committed, only to fall off as the year goes on.
We’ve all heard the suggestions:
- Write your goals down. There’s something about putting your goals in writing that actually helps you to do them.
- Be specific. Make measurable, specific goals (I.e. I want to have seven thousand dollars in our savings account by December 31, 2009) rather than general goals such as I want to save more money.
- Break each goal down into smaller chunks. Breaking goals down into bite size chunks helps you to keep track of how you’re doing with your goals and makes the goal a bit easier to attain.
- Place your goals within eyesight. Placing your goals on your desk, refrigerator, on your palm pilot etc., keeps them in your consciousness. The more often you’re thinking about them, the more likely you are to work them.
And many other suggestions…all good, helpful, and…hard to follow.
Because New Year’s Resolutions are notoriously difficult to fulfill, what are we to do? Do we give up and stop striving for these seemingly unattainable goals? Or do we keep trying until we get it right? Hmmm…tough question.
I’ll leave that decision up to you…with no judgment whatsoever regarding your decision. As for myself, due to the competitive side of me, I will continue to strive to reach my goals and fine tune what works while throwing out what doesn’t.
Here’s what I’ve found that works:
- All of the suggestions at the top of this post.
- Thinking in terms of New Year’s themes: For example for those who struggle with standing up for themselves, their theme this year might be “Strengthen my spine in 2009”.
- Choosing goals that I get excited about rather than ones I dread or choose because I or others believe I “should” choose them.
- And finally, my most helpful strategy to date: Having an accountability partner. This is a person who you check in with weekly to go over what you’ve both done pertaining to your goals. This can be a friendly check-in that is supportive, encouraging, and more like a brainstorming session or it can be a fun, competition. I personally am fairly competitive so my husband and I make it a friendly competition. We meet each week to discuss the goals of that week and we wager something. For example, my goal might be to exercise three days this week and write a rough draft of an article. My husband would state his weekly goals also and then we both say what we gain if we reach our goals and what we lose if we don’t. We happen to have a weekly budget that we each have so one motivator for us was our budget. If I did not reach my weekly goal then I would have to pay him $5.00 out of my weekly money and vice versa. If we both made it we got a bonus $5.00 for the week. If we both lost, we paid the $10.00 into a pot. The wager could be anything from a backrub to a bottle of wine to breakfast in bed. The important thing is that it’s something you would love to get and hate to lose.
Regardless of what you choose as your New Years goals, remember to have it be a positive process versus one riddled with guilt, pressure, and negative emotions. If you’re in a great relationship then bringing in your partner can be a fun way to keep you on track. If you’re not in a great relationship then try it with a friend.
Have a very Happy New Years filled with loving relationships, good health, much peace, and tons of laughter!
Warm regards,
Lisa
CHALLENGE: Choose a couple goals for the New Year and keep yourself accountable with an accountability partner. Have some fun and let me know how it goes.