I want you to count how many times have you made a New Years resolution?
Now out of those times, how many have you actually stuck with? Um…probably none.
I’m not in any position to point a finger because I’m guilty of starting off the year saying “I’m gonna conquer the year with my ‘New Year, New me’ plans and they slowly but surely fade by the end of January.
I get why we like to make resolutions.
The New year feels like a new beginning. As soon as the clock strikes 12, suddenly I feel like I’ve transported into a new time, a new place, and with a new mindset to start of the year fresh.
However, many of us have this notion that because we feel brand new, we’ll suddenly act brand new. Then we create unrealistic goals and plans for ourselves that we won’t achieve.
But not this year!
This year, let’s make our New Years resolutions a lifestyle routine so they will stick. Let’s choose our goals wisely, plan them out and start in a way that has purpose, so we can avoid failure.
Here’s my top tips to being successful with your goals this year:
1. Consistency - For me, I find the best way to keep being consistent in my goals is being consistent with my relationship with God. Starting your New year off with a prayer, and making your requests to God makes all the difference. Be clear about what you want out of this year. God is always going to be there to guide your footsteps so allowing Him to be apart of your daily routine automatically makes half the battle so much easier.
2. Discipline - Since starting Cherish U I’ve been learning more about not only cherishing my skin but also cherishing within. I’ve been able to learn so much more about breaking my bad habits and substituting them with good habits . That’s the way I’ve developed consistently and discipline. Having these two things are keys to success. Having consistently creates stability that every human being craves in their lives. Practicing consistency instills discipline and helps us focus and allows us to become more aware of the important things we need to do.
Discipline also helps you focus and stick to your goals . A lot of people struggle with self discipline including myself . I was queen of procrastination in everything I did and it held me back. The key to overcoming things like stress , anxiety , and procrastination for me was being able to pinpoint my habits and why I was operating the way I was. Build a sense of self awareness so that you can identify the things that are holding you back from achieving your goals , write them down and start replacing your bad habits with good ones .
3. Choose Specific and Realistic Goals - Making New Years resolution’s are a great way to build healthier habits and achieve the things we’ve always wanted to, but we need to know how to choose our goals wisely.
You have to know what does and does not work for you.
It’s all about being realistic and honest about your goals. For instance, If you know you aren’t a morning person, don’t start off the year saying you’ll workout every morning.
Being realistic with your goals is the best way to keep up consistency and longevity. It’s also important to be very specific. Now typically many of us have pretty similar goals. “I wanna be more productive this year” , or “I wanna lose weight” , or my favorite, “I wanna be rich this year”. Who doesn’t? We wanna make these goals more realistic and achievable. So instead of saying I wanna lose weight set a small goal like losing 10 lbs in a month. Make them more specific and concrete. This helps you because more organized in your planning while actually sticking with and achieving your set goal.
4. Pace yourself - Writing down a whole list of things you want to achieve is definitely a good thing however, attempting to achieve each and everyone of these goals is so unlikely. Why, because you will eventually burn out trying do everything at once.
I know I’m not the only one who had written a full page list of goals for the year and once the year is up you flip back to that page and see you have only accomplished two, maybe three of the things you wanted to do that year. Pace yourself and take it one goal at a time. You’ll feel way more accomplished hitting that smaller goal. Taking on too much at a time will end up hindering you from achieving anything at all. Remember, the ultimate goal is achieving our goals and making our resolutions a lifestyle .
5. Plan it out - Planning is essential to achieving your goals. This will help you stay on track to making your resolutions an everyday lifestyle. So make a detailed, well written plan on how you’re going to stick to your goal. This stage is crucial to your success because this is going to make sure there is a framework in place . Starting a goal without a plan is pointless. You will quickly find yourself slipping back into your old ways, quitting, giving up, and procrastinating all over again . No one wants this kind of setback . So be sure to write it all down including things that may get in your way. It’s better to know these things from the jump so you won’t be side tracked and hindered from achieving your goals .
6. Cherish U in the process - You all know that our name isn’t just a name but it’s a way of life. “Cherishing myself” is my number one New Years resolution and definitely one we should all want to make into a lifestyle.
We want to achieve our goals but we don’t want to forget to take care of ourselves in the meantime. We all get caught up chasing a dream,working too hard trying reach a goal, and taking care of others that we forget to take a step back and give ourselves that me time we all need. So , while your on that road of building better habits to make your New Years resolutions a way of life, take that walk, take that vacation, have that bubble bath, do whatever it is you need to Cherish U!