First, let’s clear up a key misconception. Goals and resolutions are theoretically the same things, yet the way people approach them is very different. So are the reasons why resolutions fail.
As a corporate professional, you know that goals are pretty formal and have structure, yet most resolutions tend to be a fleeting wish. That’s at the heart of why so few people achieve them.
Losing weight and getting in shape are the top 2 resolutions EVERY year…by a LONG Shot! Yet, 92% of these resolutions fail each year (most within 4-6 weeks).
I care too much about your results to let you fall into this trap, so I put together this post containing time-tested strategies that are guaranteed to help you rock your resolutions this year and be among the 8% of people who get amazing results!
On that note, I believe an 8% success rate is RIDICULOUS! My goal is to flip the script on resolutions and help EVERYONE who follows these tips to reach their goals. So, dive and…and pass the info on to your friends!
Strategy #1: Upgrade Your Mindset
Contrary to popular belief, getting fit and losing weight isn’t about workouts and diets (that’s why 92% of people fail each year). It MUST start with the right mindset. A mindset of positivity, possibility, and passion for change.
Here are the most common mindset mistakes people make:
- Approaching resolutions as a short term fix
- Believing you are doomed to failure because you’ve failed in the past
- Denying yourself pleasure (thinking of your journey as “a horrible restrictive slog” to be endured to reach a specific goal)
Here’s how to fix these mindset issues:
- Learn from why you failed in the past (then it’s not a failure, but a valuable learning experience that benefits you now)
- View your journey as a marathon, not a sprint
- Reward yourself (in a positive way)
Actually, any goal worth achieving is more like a series of small sprints in a MUCH longer journey. By having smaller, short-term goals related to your bigger picture goal, you will keep making progress, while keeping your eye on the long-term objective.
A key mindset skill is to LEARN TO ENJOY THE PROCESS! Do this and the results will come faster and with more happiness than you could ever imagine.
This is where the reward and recognition come into play. In a LONG and sometimes challenging journey, it’s critical to recognize and celebrate as many small wins as possible while celebrating the PROCESS of making progress!
What you celebrate may change over time, but in the beginning, get excited over even the smallest wins. Did you plan your day the night before? WooHoo! Did you go for a walk between meetings and stretch your muscles? Awesome! Acknowledge and give yourself permission to smile about it. You did well.
THESE are the “kindling moments” that will fuel the long-term motivational fire to keep you going over the long term…because it feels GREAT to be successful, even with small things.
This reward and recognition process also mentally tunes you into the small foundational habits that must be completed to keep the results coming.
There’s much more to mindset, but these essential elements are missing in most resolutions.
If you wish to learn more about a successful mindset, check out our Mindset Mastery Course.
Strategy #2: Clearly Define Your Objective
Sounds simple, but when we analyze reasons why resolutions fail, most of them are just vague wishes of some unclear future state.
Here are the most common clarity mistakes people make with resolutions:
- Making a wish instead of a clear, concise, and measurable goal
Vague statements, lack of clarity, lack of meaning, and missing process goals lead to confusion and often spending time, effort, and money doing the wrong things. In other words, you can work hard, but end up chasing your tail and never achieve the results you actually want.
Here’s how to fix these clarity issues.
- Set SMARTER Goals
Most people know the SMART acronym, but it doesn’t solve the entire problem. Instead of setting SMART goals, it’s more helpful to be SMARTER! 🙂
That means goals are:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Attainable/action-based
- Realistic
- Time-bound
- Evaluated Regularly
- Rewarded (positively)
To sum up the clarity strategy, it’s helpful to identify a specific outcome so you know what you are shooting for, but also structure SUB-Goals (process goals) around the various BEHAVIORS that produce the results you desire, not necessarily the results themselves.
For example, if you want to lose 20 pounds of fat in 5 months, then that equates to about 1 pound per week. People are tempted to set a milestone goal to lose 1lb per week, but this often sets people up for failure because they focus their attention too much on the outcome, and not the PROCESS that will produce the outcome.
It’s more helpful to set action/process goals around regular exercise sessions, healthy eating, stress management and sleep hygiene (sleep and stress management are critical to hormone balance, health, and fat loss).
In the end, the results will follow if you take the correct ACTIONS, but you still need an outcome goal to know the direction you are headed and a way to measure progress!
Hopefully, these strategies were helpful in reframing your mindset and clarity around your resolutions (goals). And the reasons why resolutions fail in the first place.
Time will pass anyway, you may as well be getting the results you want!
