It’s the second week of the year; are you still sticking to your resolutions? For years New Year’s resolutions were just a source of frustration and disappoint for me. I know that I wasn’t alone in this feeling. There are too many articles, blogs, youtube videos, and TedTalks about how you can make changes to be able to stick to your resolutions. Well I’m going to add my voice. These are the changes I’ve made in order to make my resolutions stick and even have multiple resolutions.
Break them down
The first and most important change I made was to break my plan down into monthly goals. Yearly resolutions are really nice long term end points, but are useless to get things done. Breaking a resolution down into monthly or weekly goals makes progress more manageable and results more visible. So now I create a monthly chart with my small goals. The year I want to lose the baby weight? My goal was 6lbs each month. Totally doable and even seemingly easy. My resolution was to lose 25lbs so I actually built the ability to miss a few months into the plan. The yearly plan to go through the house to declutter and organize? One room per month. Even down to a closet or dresser per weekend. Keeping the small wins in focus will motivate you to stay with it throughout the entire year.
Start by making your resolutions like normal. Then take a look at how you can break them down into 4-12 smaller goals. Do they have to be done in a certain order? Are there external factors that need to be planned around like a school vacation, the weather, a holiday? Fit the goals into months that work for you. Do this for each resolution to see if it feels comfortable. If you can’t arrange them to feel comfortable, consider reducing or eliminating a resolution for this year.
Organize your resolutions
I am now at a point that I can have multiple resolutions each year. To keep myself straight, I have to organize them. Generally, I keep to three categories, but they can change year-to-year. This year I’m using health, home, and financial. Previously I’ve used categories like work and garden. There’s not necessarily a goal for each category was month. Instead, it helps with mapping out the year to ensure I’m not overloaded at any one time. I take a spreadsheet divided into my categories across the top and the months down the side. Then I can easily see what months should be adjusted.
What type of categorization could you use? How many do you need? Play around with how you can fit them together. Get creative. If you only have one or two resolutions, go ahead and scrap the idea. Focus on what makes it easy for you to remember your goals.
Get family buy-in
Have you ever set a resolution that affected someone else but didn’t say anything to them? Remember getting frustrated when they weren’t helping or worse, accidently working against you? It is essential to get family buy-in. It is now a family rule that personal goals are shared with everyone. That way we can work together to help each other succeed. My goal to lose the baby-weight affects the family because my meal planning and cooking with be adjusted. Ty’s goal to run more is going to change our routines to ensure there’s always kid coverage. We don’t have to have the same goals but we do need to be on the same page so we all can succeed.
How you get buy-in in a very personal decision. It took a few years to come to the conclusion of sitting down and going over everything together. Maybe you can jump right in to the full conversation, or maybe you need to start with a one sided telling of changes you’re going to make. Consider this very carefully. You don’t want to create more challenges for yourself by not being open.
Reward yourself
Last but certainly not least, rewards are a must. I reward myself with anything from a massage to a new book to tickets for a show. Also, I list out the reward for each month at the beginning of the year. That way I have a specific reward I’m working toward (other than finishing the goals!). I’ve found that the external reward significantly increases my ability to succeed.
Own this year!
How are you feeling about your resolutions now? Ready to tackle the rest of 2021? I’m sure we can do this together. Share your resolutions, mini-goals, or rewards below. I’ll be checking in with updates to my goals though the year and would love to hear your updates along the way too.