The beginning of the year is often a moment where one makes New Year’s resolutions in order to realize them in the 12 months thereafter.
A couple of ‘statistics’ on those resolutions: ’80% of the people drop their resolutions by the first week of February’. Or ‘this one: Strava, the social network for athletes, predicts that most people will quit by the second Friday of January’. Strava calls it ‘Quitters Day’, based on analysis logged activities of >300 million users.
There are numerous reasons why it is so hard to realize your resolutions:
- The goal is not really your goal. Setting a goal or a new year’s resolution requires making a long lasting impact on your behavior. This process takes time, effort and discipline to grow outside of your comfort zone. If you want to achieve your biggest goals, you will need an unbreakable amount of energy, to stretch yourself and follow through.
- The goal is not specific enough. If you want to stick to your resolution, you have to be crystal clear on what you mean with it. Ask yourself why you want to achieve that goal and how it will add value to your life. Defining your why will help you to overcome challenges along the way and thus stick to your biggest goals.
- The goal lacks proper planning. Setting a goal 12 months from now gives you time to procrastinate. Break your resolutions into goals per month or even per week. This will help you to monitor progress and give you a confidence boost once you are sticking to your plan.
The single most important goal is that you make every day count
Finally, the biggest secret to achieving your goal is to ask yourself the following:
- To achieve my goal, what do I need to become?
- To achieve my goal, what do I need to let go of?
For example, if you want to get promoted at work, ask yourself what are the behaviors and skills that you need to learn and unlearn to obtain that promotion. It could be that you need to improve your presentation skills or unlearn to interrupt your colleagues. Once you have defined what you need to become or let go of, you can start making progress in that direction.
The single most important goal is that you make every day count.
My favorite tool to set goals? Click here.
Photo by Myriam Zilles on Unsplash
The beginning of the year is often a moment where one makes New Year’s resolutions in order to realize them in the 12 months thereafter.
A couple of ‘statistics’ on those resolutions: ’80% of the people drop their resolutions by the first week of February’. Or ‘this one: Strava, the social network for athletes, predicts that most people will quit by the second Friday of January’. Strava calls it ‘Quitters Day’, based on analysis logged activities of >300 million users.
There are numerous reasons why it is so hard to realize your resolutions:
- The goal is not really your goal. Setting a goal or a new year’s resolution requires making a long lasting impact on your behavior. This process takes time, effort and discipline to grow outside of your comfort zone. If you want to achieve your biggest goals, you will need an unbreakable amount of energy, to stretch yourself and follow through.
- The goal is not specific enough. If you want to stick to your resolution, you have to be crystal clear on what you mean with it. Ask yourself why you want to achieve that goal and how it will add value to your life. Defining your why will help you to overcome challenges along the way and thus stick to your biggest goals.
- The goal lacks proper planning. Setting a goal 12 months from now gives you time to procrastinate. Break your resolutions into goals per month or even per week. This will help you to monitor progress and give you a confidence boost once you are sticking to your plan.
The single most important goal is that you make every day count
Finally, the biggest secret to achieving your goal is to ask yourself the following:
- To achieve my goal, what do I need to become?
- To achieve my goal, what do I need to let go of?
For example, if you want to get promoted at work, ask yourself what are the behaviors and skills that you need to learn and unlearn to obtain that promotion. It could be that you need to improve your presentation skills or unlearn to interrupt your colleagues. Once you have defined what you need to become or let go of, you can start making progress in that direction.
The single most important goal is that you make every day count.
My favorite tool to set goals? Click here.
Photo by Myriam Zilles on Unsplash
