Are you planning to make some serious changes in 2016?  Well, here’s my advice…Stop making year long resolutions

 

Did you know a large percentage of Americans make New Years Resolution’s ever year and never make it past January?  We make these huge goals, and get very excited about them for a short time, and then just, let them go as life gets busy and time goes by.

That’s just crazy!  Why would we make resolutions, we didn’t really even intend to accomplish?

Its because we genuinely want to change, but we don’t really want to do what’s necessary to get there.  According to a survey done by GoBankingRates on 2016’s Top Resolutions,  41.1% of Americans are making resolutions to live a healthier lifestyle, and 39.6% of Americans are resolving to lose weight this year.  We all want to be healthier, but when it comes down to it, the actual steps to accomplish that goal are less concrete.  We know what we want, but we don’t really know how to get there- or we know what we NEED to do, but put it off, because its inconvenient.

What if we stopped it altogether!  What if we didn’t buy into the hype of these huge difficult New Years Resolutions, and started thinking differently.

My plan for you is pretty simple.  Resolve to CHANGE.  First decide what you want to change in your life- Then break it down into smaller steps, and set monthly goals.  Focus on the monthly goal, and don’t worry about how long it takes to accomplish the END goal.  We need to change our approach completely.  Instead of thinking about it as something that has to happen this year, focus on what you need to do RIGHT NOW, this month.  And make your goals realistic.  Baby steps!  Its so easy to get overwhelmed with big resolutions.

Another site I visited suggested that the best way to accomplish your goals, is to set your expectations lower.  I disagree! I think we should aim high, but break down the steps we need to take to reach our goals and focus on them one at a time.

So where do we begin?  Think about the changes you want to make in your life, go ahead and be bold…because this is just a wish list- not a resolution list.  Think BIG, and write it down.  Next you just need to Brainstorm some ideas that will help you accomplish those goals, and get more specific.  I’ve found that the more specific a goal is, the easier it is to work towards.  Then for each month pick one of these ideas to work towards and figure out how you are going to make it happen.  This time, think small…start with small goals that add up to bigger results over time.

I made a couple of printables, to help me with my own journey.  Feel free to use them and share, as long as you link back here 🙂

Resolve to Change

Monthly Goal Setting Sheet

So are you ready?  Throw out those Big Resolutions that just leave you feeling guilty year after year and start setting achievable monthly goals that help you work towards the real changes you want to make in your life!