Unless you’re a member of a very, very small number of people who make New Year’s resolutions and actually keep them, it’s time to stop hitting your head against the wall by creating unrealistic expectations.
Take some common resolutions:
- Lose weight
- Exercise more
- Stop smoking
- Get organized
- Clean out the garage or attic
According to US News and World Report, 80% of these well-intended resolutions fail by February. It’s no wonder because grandiose or optimistic goals are typically unsupported by the steps necessary to make them actually work.
So, let’s change our thinking and put some real teeth into these ideas. First, start with an ASPIRATION instead of a RESOLUTION. While it seems to be only a word substitution, it creates in your mind a different view. Take, for example, the following:
If you aspire to fit into those khaki’s you have hanging in the back of your closet from three sizes ago, try imagining what you looked like, how you felt, and what made that a positive. You actually need to dig into the image and fix it in your mind. After all, it’s not an intangible idea, it’s something you’ve actually experienced.
Ask yourself:
- What was I doing then?
- What did I eat?
- How much did I exercise?
- How did I feel?
- How did I look?
You get the picture. Create in your mind a target for shifting behaviors and by all means, start SMALL!!!
Staying with the weight-loss theme, if you attempt to eat celery as a means of achieving your dream, you might as well forget it and keep grazing on Ring Dings…make small, not radical shifts.
If you aspire to have a spotless attic, you can start with one box, one file, or one object that’s an incremental improvement — or you can put a “to do” on your calendar to call a rubbish removal service.
Small actions can lead to big results if you allow yourself the time and space to imagine the outcome you desire, anchor it back to success, and create a realistic plan accordingly.
The same goes for Chapter X…Big Hairy Audacious Goals are great…but small, incremental steps give you a better chance of chalking up a big win!
