Friday, January 1, 2010

Its that time of year to make those pesky resolutions!

"It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that they are difficult"
~ Seneca the Younger (4 BC to AD) philosopher, statesman and dramatist


It's that annual time of year that some of us dread, some of us look forward to and there's even those of us that don't bother with it - New Year's Resolutions time! All together now! Whoohoo! Groan! Mutter. Mutter.

Most of us have been guilty of all 3 behaviors. We make resolutions and don't follow them or break them weeks, months and for some - days or even hours later! It all starts with good intentions but we know the road to hell is sometimes paved with good intentions. Intentions followed by inaction will just lead to that all familiar road of frustration and disappointment that led us to doing the resolution in the first place! It's a good thing to set resolutions (goals), it gives you a roadmap to fixing a bad habit, character/personality flaw, etc. that you are probably more aware of than you'd like to admit. Setting a goal helps you face the thing that you need to fix and helps focus you on what steps you need to do to reach your goal. The problems a lot of people make is setting too big of a goal or setting them in too short or long of a timeframe. When setting a goal, its important to make small attainable goals that take you where you want to be. These smaller goals not only give you easier goals to reach for but also gives you small successes along the way to your overall goal. This progressive way of reaching your goals is efficient, motivating and best of all, seems rather simple. Sometimes simple is better.

So, lets say instead of saying that your goal is to lose 30 pounds this year, say that you want to lose 30 pounds this year and that you will lose 2.5 pounds a month to get there. With saying that you only want to lose 30 pounds, you're leaving the time-frame too open-ended since you are giving yourself a whole year to reach that goal. What will most do? You got it, put it off. Next thing they know, its November and it's too late with all that good holiday food ahead. So, you tell yourself "too late now, might as well start with the new year! That'll be my new year's resolution!". And so the cycle of frustration and disappointment continues and the clock ticks away. Sound familiar? Telling yourself you only have to lose 2.5 pounds a month sure sounds attainable doesn't it? Guess what? After 12 months, you'll have reached your 30 pound weight loss goal! ;)

Now repeat after me - I will set my goals but this time I will make small attainable goals to reach my bigger goal! I will get to where I want to be. I will because I have the roadmap and that gives me confidence that I will do it. Nothing will stop me from changing what I want to change and achieving what I want to achieve.

I'm proud of you. I have a good feeling that you will do what you need to do. Whenever you need a reminder or a motivation boost, come visit and read this entry. It'll be here waiting to motivate you all year long. :)