We've all played out the New Year's cliché ~ set goals January 1st, stay motivated for a few weeks, only to fall back into our old patterns, lose focus, fall off completely and wind up back where we started the next year. Not this year! I've got a new way for you to approach your New Year's Resolutions. Working through this process will help you visualize your goals and implement methods to achieve anything and everything you want!
HOW to MAKE this the YEAR you SUCCEED
- You'll need some kind of writing setup (either a notebook + pen or your favorite digital medium).
- I'll walk you through a series of questions to clarify how you want this year to look and feel, as well as refine your goals to focus on what's really important to you.
- At the end, you’ll create weekly action goals, mapping out exactly what steps you will take to make this the year you succeed!
A NEW APPROACH to NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS
STEP 1
You're going to start by writing down how you want to feel this year.
- Do you want to feel confident? Strong? Energetic? Fit? Healthy? Organized? Financially secure? Professional? Creative?
- Take a look and circle the 3 feelings that best represent the goals you want to work towards.
STEP 2
Next, take those 3 feelings and brainstorm changes you can make to create those feelings.
- If you circled "Healthy", think about what changes you can make to feel healthy. For example; "I am going to eat healthier, work out more and improve my self care".
- Keep refining your changes to get as specific as possible. If you wrote, "I want to make more money" you could further refine it to; “I want to secure a job with a higher salary that offers more financial stability and room for professional growth".
- Get as clear as possible about what it is you really want to accomplish this year and break your large goal down to the root behaviors that will get you there.
STEP 3
In order to start making these changes, you're going to prioritize and clean up the habits that are either holding you back or helping you get there. Take inventory of what needs to go, what can stay and what you want to add or delete from your lifestyle.
- In order to feel the way you want and get moving in that direction, what is your top priority going to be? Fitness? Nutrition? Self Care? Career? Relationships?
- What do you need less of in your life?
- What do you need more of in your life?
- What behaviors, habits and actions are holding you back?
- What behaviors, habits and actions are helping you?
- What behaviors, habits and actions are you ready to let go of?
- What behaviors, habits and actions would you like to add to your day?
- If you are unsure about what changes to make, get honest with yourself about even the simplest behaviors that will help or hold you back. You won't achieve change without changing your daily habits.
STEP 4
Now you're going to map out exactly what you want your goal lifestyle to look like. Go through the following questions and write down how you’re spending your time, where you’re going, who you’re hanging out with and when you’re scheduling in your workouts, grocery shopping or networking for your dream job, etc.
- What time are you waking up?
- How are you structuring your morning?
- Are you creating some morning rituals for yourself?
- What are you wearing to work?
- What car are you driving?
- Where are you going to work?
- What job are you doing?
- What are you eating?
- Where and when are you working out?
- Where are you going after work?
- Who are you hanging out with?
- What are you doing to wind down and relax?
- How are you ending your day?
STEP 5
The last step in making this the year you succeed is to come up with your action goals. This is something you are going to review and revise every week. Once your actions goals become habits, you'll continue to challenge yourself by taking those actions one step further.
- List 3 specific actions you can start this week that will help you reach your goal. If your goal is to improve your fitness and switch up your workouts, decide what actions you need to do first. Do you need to find a gym you like? Sign up for fitness classes? Recruit a workout partner?
- Each week you’ll revisit your list and either carry over what you’re still working on, build upon what you accomplished or scrap what's not working. Going back to the fitness example; maybe you found a gym you like and recruited a workout partner, so this week your action goals could be: Go to the gym Monday through Thursday, sign up for a group fitness class, and/or plan to workout with a girlfriend .
- Finally, mark your calendar with progress checkin dates. Maybe you want to hit 30 workouts in 6 weeks. Keep track of each workout you do and set s reminder on your calendar at the end of the 6 weeks. Reaching those milestones will be such an awesome way to measure your progress and celebrate your accomplishments along the way!
I know each and every one of you can create the lifestyle of your dreams. Work through and implement these steps not and next year we will celebrate the amazing year we had and all the success we all achieved!