Why Resolutions Aren’t Enough

Have you been considering New Year’s resolutions and promises of change recently? It’s a time-honoured tradition to commit to better habits at the start of a new year, yet often, these goals fade as quickly as they arise. 

In our latest blog post, we’re delving beyond the surface to understand why you need more than a declaration on New Year’s Eve if you want to achieve your goals. To make a lasting change you need a deliberate plan backed by unwavering motivation and a mindset shift.

Change Doesn’t Happen By Chance

Benjamin Franklin once said, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” While you’d be forgiven for thinking this sentiment only applies to military campaigns rather than New Year resolutions, it’s actually the key to achieving any goal.

Implementing true change requires planning, a clear direction, and, crucially, a clear understanding of why you want that change. Wishful thinking won’t get you anywhere, you need to make deliberate choices.

Practical Tips For Achieving Your Goals

Understand Your Motivation

What is behind you wanting to make a change? Understanding your motivation and whether you want to move towards a goal or away from a current state is pivotal. 

“Towards” individuals need to maintain focus on what they want, while “Away From” individuals need to focus on avoiding what they don’t want. Knowing your why sets the compass for your journey.

Define What Success Looks Like

Before embarking on resolutions, introspection is key. Ask yourself crucial questions such as: What will change? Why now? How will I achieve this? When will I know I have achieved my goal?

By clearly visualising the final result that you want to achieve and understanding your driving force, your path becomes clearer and you’ll know once you’ve achieved/reached your objective.

Have a Plan 

Think about how you will move towards your goal and what you will need to do it. Break it down into easy-to-achieve steps so you can see exactly what you need to do at each step of the way. 

Once you’ve created your plan take some time to reflect on it before implementing it and get everything in place before you start. Will you need to buy anything or ask anyone to help you? Are your timescales realistic?

Be Patient

Creating new habits takes time. Research suggests an average of 66 days to form a habit, so you must exercise patience and persistence. It can help to automate new habits by linking them to existing routines so they become second nature as quickly as possible.

Be Realistic

Avoiding the common pitfalls of lofty, unattainable goals is crucial. Be realistic, outline plans, seek support, track progress, and allow room for setbacks without self-judgement. Celebrate small victories; they fuel motivation.

Move Beyond Traditional Resolutions

Resolutions need not be limited to health or fitness. Ignore what other people are doing and pick a goal that’s personal to you. It could be anything that will benefit you, from improving your work-life balance, to achieving personal growth, or even fostering more gratitude. 

Your Key to Lasting Change

As you venture on this journey, remember: that change isn’t an overnight transformation. It’s a series of intentional choices and consistent actions, but allow yourself room to make mistakes. You can only reclaim your good habits by planning deliberately, nurturing your motivation and taking little steps towards your goal. 
Some people benefit from obtaining external support to shift their mindset and achieve their goals, and there is no shame in this! It can be as simple as receiving the right training, there is a variety of training out there to help you, such as our Mindful Manager training course. In it we take you on a personal journey where you’ll learn how to make better choices for better outcomes, with skills you will use repeatedly and transfer to all aspects of your life. If you’d like to find out more get in touch.