Top Ten New Year's Resolutions

Here are a few tips to help you realize your New Year's Resolution.

1. Choose the Right New Year's Resolution(s)

Failure is virtually assured at the offset because the resolutions are not made with serious intent and deliberation. The first trick is to choose the right New Year's resolution for the right reasons.

Identifying the "why" helps you avoid setting goals for the wrong reasons.

Once you've decided on the wording, formally commit. At a minimum, write the goal down on paper.

2. Create a Plan

Most resolutions fail because people stop once they've made the resolution.

Upon clarifying the exact goal you are setting, next create a plan for how you intend to accomplish your goal. Without a plan, you are very unlikely to succeed.

 
3. Stay on Track

The idea is to find some external thing that keeps you motivated, such as a personal fitness trainer or myGoals.com's email task reminders.


4. Remain Flexible and Keep on Going

The reason for this is that circumstances beyond our control frequently crop up at the most unexpected and inconvenient times. We can also expect our short-term and long-term priorities to change. As long as we build flexibility into our expectations, we can simply adjust things as we go.

It's therefore best to periodically reevaluate our goals and plans, perhaps once per quarter, for a year-long goal such as a New Year's resolution.

Remember  to acknowledge partial success. Losing 15 pounds is cause for celebration, even if your original goal was to lose 20 pounds.