Forget New Year Resolutions - Do This Instead

I am not a fan of New Year resolutions.

A study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology found that only 8% of people successfully achieve their New Year resolutions and approximately 80% of people give up on their resolutions by mid-February.

The main reason resolutions fail is because they are based on extrinsic rather than intrinsic desires for change and growth.

The reason most people never reach their goals is that they don’t define them, learn about them, or even seriously consider them as believable or achievable. Winners can tell you where they are going, what they plan to do along the way and who will be sharing the adventure with them. – Denis Waitley

Before you buy that gym membership, I challenge you to consider a different approach.

Commit to yourself. Only YOU know what you intrinsically need to grow, change, and build a life that is meaningful to YOU. Only YOU can produce the necessary motivation to change.

1.       Take time for yourself, get quiet and tune in. Shut out the noise.

 2.       Ask yourself,

a.       What do I really want?

b.       Where do I want to make changes and WHY?

c.       What will my life look and feel like if I am successful? Visualize it!

d.       How will I do it?

e.       What can I realistically commit to doing?

 3.       Listen for the answers. Write down what comes to you. The Why is most important.

 4.       If the answers are based on external pressures and expectations, forget them.

 5.       If the answers come from within, place your focus there and develop an action plan.

 What do you plan to add, change or delete from your life in 2024? I would love to hear how this exercise works for you, what realizations you had, and areas you plan to focus on now and in the future.