Why I stopped making new year resolutions.

It’s almost the new year and I can bet that a lot of people have started making their new year resolutions – a list of things they will or won’t do in the new year. This was me every other year.
I would sit down on the 31st and write a very long list of things I wanted to do or wanted to stop doing in the coming year. I remember a particular year I even printed it out. In colour! I was that gingered. Can you relate? Well, the problem is that ginger is never the answer. It can only take you so far but there are other factors that you actually have to consider in achieving your new year’s resolution.

I never achieved most of my resolutions and so at some point, I gave up and stopped making new year resolutions. Yes! I stopped because I never achieved anything. It felt like a waste…until I learnt these. So here is how to achieve your new year resolutions and you can best believe this worked for me because I’m back to making new year resolutions and smashing them!

1. Set realistic goals.

This was my number one problem. I would write down things I knew I could literally never do. My list usually looked like this:
– Stop breathing for 10 mins each day

– Buy a range rover every month

– Never watch a movie again.

– Quit sleeping.

Then I would give myself a lot of ginger about it. Because I was gingered, I would make it through the first few days but after the first few days when the ginger was gone, I would give up and slip back into my old lifestyle.

This is why it is important to set realistic goals. Don’t just say you’ll bring heaven to earth. Set goals that are feasible. This does not mean that you should not challenge yourself. By all means do. But make sure your goals are realistic.

2. Write them down.

This is important. Don’t just have it in your head. Write it down so you can make reference to it later. If you just THINK about these your resolutions in your head, you’re only using the right hemisphere of your brain, this is the imaginative center.
But, if you think about it and then you write it down on paper,  you begin to tap into your left hemisphere which is logic-based. This sends the signal to every nerve in your body, making you more conscious about achieving these goals and how much you want it.

3. Plan.

This was another mistake I made so often. I would set goals with no plan on how to achieve them. When you are setting your goals,  be sure to also make plans on how to achieve them.
For example, if your goal is to have 600 posts on instagram, you can make a plan to post twice on weekdays and once on weekends. This would give your goals a structure. You would know what you are supposed to be doing and working on to achieve your resolutions.

Be sure to put deadlines in your plans. Instead of saying “I want to  make 50,000 NGN” say “I want to make 50,000 NGN in 2 months”.
4. Set smaller milestones and deadlines.

In as much as you have major goals you want to achieve, be sure to break them into smaller milestones. Set smaller goals for yourself within those major goals that would lead up to achieving the real thing.
Give yourself smaller deadlines within your major deadline so it doesn’t look like too much of a task. This would also help with your time management too.

5. Tell someone.

It is important to have someone (or people) that you are accountable to about these goals.  It could be a friend with similar goals, a mentor or anybody else that believes in you and can help you get back on track if you slip up.

It helps to have a partner-in-believing so you can motivate each other. If you are an open person, you can make a public declaration about it. This would motivate you to achieve it at all cost.

6. If you fail, try again.

This has to be the most important thing I learnt when figuring out how to achieve my resolutions. I was always so quick to give up when I didn’t succeed at something. I really hate failing at anything so once I smelled failure, I would run. This hindered me from achieving a lot of my goals because I never tried again.

If you fail at something, try again. Keep trying. If you slip up,  don’t give up. Get back on track. That’s the only way you can succeed at it. On the brighter side, you are at least sure that won’t make the same mistakes again.

7. Focus on your process.

Instead of looking at how far away the goal still is from you, focus on your process and the progress you are making. That way,  you are more encouraged to keep moving instead of being sad about the ones you have not achieved.

8. Reward.

You are free to reward yourself at major milestones. You can even plan the reward for each goal achievement. It would serve as extra motivation for you to  speed up and smash those goals.
9. Enabling environment.

You know yourself and you know the things that have stopped you in time past from achieving those goals. Create an environment that would help you stay away from it.

If you’re trying to stop a bad habit like smoking for instance, stay away from those friends that smoke. Don’t attend parties where people would be smoking. Dispose of cigarettes in your house or office.

If you’re trying to lose weight, do away with junk food and sugar in refrigerator. Buy workout kits for yourself. Put your jogging shoes at the door. You have to create the enabling environment for yourself. No one would do it for you.

10. Pray. 

Willpower and determination can only do so much. What happens when your willpower becomes weak? What happens when the ginger finishes? That is why you have to commit it to God so He would strengthen you at times when you get weak and feel like you cannot carry on anymore.

So yes! With these tips, you are on track to achieving your new year resolutions. Go ahead and smash those goals. What’s your new year resolution experience, do you think these tips would help you do better? Let me know in the comments section 😁.

This is the last post for 2017 and I really want to thank YOU most especially for reading my blog. You are a gem. You are special. You are amazing. Thank you. Let’s do more together in 2018.

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HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU!!!! See you in 2018.
Much love 😍

Your tiny eyed storyteller.