How to Make New Year’s Resolutions That Stick

Over the next few days millions of people will honor the age old tradition of making resolutions for the new year.  Shortly afterward they will engage in an equally time honored tradition of breaking those resolutions or forgetting them altogether.  My husband really enjoys observing this time of year as the gym parking lot suddenly fills up, and for the first two weeks of January you can't get to the treadmills or free weights.  The Food Network will feature a heavy rotation of healthy cooking themed shows, and Paula Deen might only use one pound of butter per recipe instead of two.

Then January 15th will roll around and there will be less congestion at the gym, and the Food Network will begin airing shows espousing the joys of chocolate.  By the end of the month everything will be back to normal, signaling the end of the New Year's Resolution season.  It doesn't have to be that way.

New Year's Day is a perfect time to hit the reset button on many areas of your life.  This holiday carries tremendous psychic power with it and, if you act appropriately, you can harness that power to bring you happiness and success in 2009!

Review the Past Year

Before you can decide what you want to do differently in the coming year, you need to figure out what wasn't working for you in the past year.  Get out a piece of paper, or your journal, and begin making a list of everything that didn't work, went wrong, or could have been better.  Yes, I know we're not supposed to dwell on the negative, but you can't go around pretending everything is perfect and expect anything to change either. So make your list.

Now on a separate piece of paper write down these categories:

• Family
• Personal
• Spiritual
• Health
• Financial
• Professional

Go back to your first list and assign the appropriate category to each item on your list.

After you have done this count up how many items needing change you have for each category.  You may find that you have more in some categories than others.  That information will be useful when you set your resolutions as you will want to aim for more change in those areas and less in the others.

Set Limits

Do not set yourself up for failure by making a list of more than ten resolutions.  The technique that Bill and I have used for years has been to sit down with the categories listed above and choose our number one in each area to resolve to change, which gives us a total of six resolutions for the year.  That doesn't mean that you won't work on the other things, but this is going to be your priority list.

Be Realistic

Now that you've got an idea of what you want to change, you need to determine how much change you want to make.  Setting a resolution to lose 40 pounds by the end of March is not realistic, while setting a resolution to lose 10 pounds by the end of March is totally realistic.

Let's say that in reviewing the previous year one of your big areas of concern was your level of debt.  Perhaps you owe $20,000 in credit card debt.  Now let's say that you make $45,000 a year.  Setting a resolution to pay off that debt in this year is completely unrealistic unless you were planning to move back in with mom and dad, give up your car and eat nothing Ramen noodles for a year.

To set a debt reduction resolution you'll need to create a realistic budget for yourself that makes paying down your credit cards a priority.  Perhaps your resolution should be to pay off the card with the highest interest rate this year and, more importantly, to stick to a budget while only paying cash for all purchases!

Have a Plan

Just making a resolution will not create change.  There has to be a plan for change.  If your resolution is to lose weight, how are you going to do that?  What dietary changes need to be made?  What increases in physical activity are you going to make?  Remember to keep it real!  Saying you are never going to eat chocolate again is probably not realistic.  Maybe you can start bringing your lunch to work and eat breakfast at home?  Careful planning will help you to stick to your resolutions and make them a reality.

Wake Up With Your Resolutions

Another thing that Bill and I did for many years before having Gracie, and will be resurrecting this year, was to make an attractive printout of our resolutions and frame it.  We would put the frames on our respective nightstands, so that each morning when we awoke they were there to greet us.  If you do this for yourself, a quick review each morning will set the tone for the day and remind you of your goals.

Celebrate Your Accomplishments

At the end of each month have a little review of your progress, and celebrate your accomplishments.  Mark the milestones along the way and reward yourself in some small way.  Remember that it is okay to fall off the resolution wagon now and then, you are only human.  Don't beat yourself up, just re-affirm your determination to stick to those resolutions and keep moving forward.

Never Too Late to Resolve

Just because you didn't set those resolutions on New Year's Day, doesn't mean you can't resolve.  You can decide to change any day of the year.  Using the steps I outlined for you above will help you to create resolutions that will stick and help you to create positive and lasting change in your life!

Here's to a healthy, wealthy, wise and happy New Year!!!!!!