5 Tips to Make Your New Year’s Resolution Stick
1. KNOW YOUR WHY
First and foremost you have to really understand and know WHY you want to commit to your resolution. The WHY is what will help carry you through to the end. And when I say WHY, I don’t mean a generic “I want to be less stressed about my finances.” I want you to go deeper. DEEPER. Try asking yourself why five times. For example:
I want to get my finances in order for 2017. WHY?
Because I am tired of living paycheck to paycheck. WHY?
Because it consumes my thoughts every day and is stressful. WHY?
Because I don't know how to change it. WHY?
Because I was never taught.
BOOM. “I want to learn how to do my finances so I have confidence to manage my money and never have to live paycheck to paycheck." Do you feel that? THAT has weight.
Get to the heart of your goal.
2. KNOW YOUR CURRENT BEHAVIOR
Ya’ll are probably tired of hearing me preach this all day long, but I won’t stop because THIS is one key to creating habits that stick. If you want to change a behavior, you have to KNOW what your current behavior is. And I mean REALLY KNOW IT.
Say your resolution is to change your eating habits. You download this great meal plan with recipes telling you exactly what to eat. Three weeks in, you start straying from your plan because...life. LIFE! It’s the one thing everyone forgets to plan for...this insane roller coaster called life. This is where knowing your behavior is SUPER key. If you KNOW that when you get stressed out you have a tendency to just say “eff it” and order food for dinner or go out to lunch because you are too tired to cook or didn’t plan your meal, THAT is knowing your behavior. If you know that is a trigger, you KNOW that in order for you to be successful, you have to set aside time to plan and prep your meals. Guess what? Your meal plan isn’t going to tell you that. YOU have to do that part.
Know your triggers.
3. MAKE IT EASY
If you are relying on willpower to take you through the finish line, you are going to be disappointed. Willpower is NOT an infinite resource. If it was, we wouldn’t need to ever create resolutions because we’d always have the reserves to get it done or push through. You have to make it easy.
When you make something EASY, you help your brain reserve its energy and willpower. And guess what? You have to know your behavior in order to know how to make it easy. For that meal plan, EASY is spending Sunday prepping ALL of your meals for the week so you can grab a meal while you are rushing out the door and heating up a meal when you get home and are tired.
Make it easy to stay on track.
4. SET YOUR EXPECTATIONS
Ready for this? We don’t actually judge ourselves on our actual progress, we judge ourselves on what we EXPECTED to achieve regardless if was realistic or not. Are you getting that? If you had a goal to save $5k, but in reality, that wasn’t actually possible based on your finances, so you only saved $2k. Guess what? Odds are you will feel crappy because you didn’t hit what you expected to hit. Set realistic expectations. If you are heading into your busy time for work and you have an expectation that you are going to workout 6 days a week, think about what that commitment looks like.
Have realistic expectations.
5. PLAN YOUR PIT STOPS
When you set a goal, you have to also give yourself some pit-stops. Why? Because if you have a really big goal, you aren’t going to be able to celebrate for a long time and celebrations are what keep you moving. When you climb Mount Everest, you have to get to basecamp. And before you even get there, you first have to train. Get that? Break your resolution down so you can celebrate your PROGRESS because we are going for progress not perfection. When you have pit stops, you are more aware of the progress you have actually made. Ironically, pit stops help you see the 30,000 ft view.
Celebrate the small victories.
Follow these 5 tips and you will be setting yourself up for success. Are you doing a resolution? I would love to know. Share in the comments!
I can’t wait to spend 2018 with you. Let’s grab life by the betties shall we?
Happy New Year!
Livin’ & Lovin’
B
