Ah, resolutions. Those potentially nasty, forgotten by February, promises you make to yourself, your life and the world to be a better person and this world a better place. We always start off just like the New Year, full of promise, full of hope and eager to make some changes. We have the best intentions but then life catches up with us or we find we’ve inadvertently bitten off more than we could chew and now we drop our resolutions like a stick of butter, whoops! Well here are some sure fire steps to help keep you motivated to do whatever your resolution may be and how to drop the ones that aren’t worth keeping, guilt free. 

First things first: Write down your goals and be reasonable. Most of us start off so motivated and filled with the promise of a new year that we over-promise ourselves. We simply stretch ourselves too thin. So, if your goal is to lose weight, become a better parent/mate/child/employee and to save money, start by writing those three things down. Keep this list somewhere that you can look on it often to remind you of what your goals are and the reasons why.  Remember: there are only 24 hours in every day, 7 days in a week and 365 days in a year. No exceptions and no pause buttons. So if you find that after you write down your goals that you have a list down to the ground, maybe it’s time to cut yourself some slack, and your list down a few items.

Next: Give yourself a reasonable time line. In our society where everything is meant to be fast and/or instant, sometimes it’s hard for us to understand that not everything happens that quickly. If your goal is to lose 100 pounds, or 50 or even 25, set yourself a realistic time line. Even under the best diet and exercise plan, you cannot expect to lose a significant amount of weight overnight, or even within a month. Most physicians will recommend a one pound weight loss per week. Sometimes two under stricter programs. If we gave ourself the one pound rule, that’s four pounds a month and 52 pounds in a year. To some people that may seem too long. Almost two years to lose 100 pounds?! But that’s not only realistic, it’s doable. If your goal is to brush your teeth every day, give yourself time to make that a habit and don’t expect it to be second nature within the first week. Change takes time. 

Finally: Take baby steps. When taking on a big project at work or in the home, it is highly advantageous to break things down into small, easy to accomplish steps. If your goal is to organize your home, start off with your time line. If you want it done within a month, use this step to break it down further. Do the kitchen first, then the living room, then the kid’s room, then yours and finally, that pesky garage. After you have your initial game plan, feel free to break that down further. Give yourself so many days to do the kitchen, with set tasks to be accomplished daily. For example: Monday- Wipe down all cabinets inside and out and counter-tops. Tuesday- Clean out the refrigerator, including the coils and condense all recipes. Wednesday- Deep clean the oven and mop the floors. Thursday- Relax. Friday: Start the living room. By taking these smaller and simpler steps toward your goal, you are helping yourself avoid becoming overwhelmed and leaving a project half done or poorly done and having to return to it later. Do it right the first time and you will be happy with the results.

The best resolutions are the ones you achieve so make this the year that you give yourself reasonable resolutions. Make them your own. If you’re a visual person, set yourself up with visual cues that you are on track. Every day that you work out, brush your teeth, say your prayers, volunteer or stay on your diet, give yourself a smiley face sticker. If you’re a person who has to see results immediately, make your baby steps a check list. As you finish each small task, check it off. Seeing those tally marks add up and that to-do list get shorter and shorter just might be the drive you need to see this resolution through.

As a final thought, if you are following these steps and find that life keeps throwing you curve ball after curve ball and you are unable or unwilling to continue, don’t beat yourself up. Sometimes, things just can’t get done in the time frame we would like them too. Remember that you can’t control every situation and sometimes you just need to let things go. Don’t sacrifice time with your loved ones, quality time taking care of yourself and important events for the sake of a resolution.  So chin up, deep breath, make those lists, set your time frame and take those baby steps. If all else fails, there’s always next year. 

Why do we miss our goals? A  proverb said plans fail for a lack of counsel, but with many advise they succeed.

What do you do when you lack counsel?  Do you begin to talk  to yourself? If you do, what are some of the things you are saying?  If you tell yourself,” it’s not going to work then you have just succeeded in causing your goals to fail.  Why would you try something which isn’t going to work? If you tell yourself, “I don’t know what I’m doing,”   be humble enough to get the skills needed to succeed.  I read this in The Five Major Pieces to the Life’s puzzle by the late Jim Rohn “the decisions we are making are not wrong based on the information we have, it’s the information we have that’s causing us to make wrong decisions.”   What does that suggest?  We need to change the information we have to make different decisions.

Here are some advise…The waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them.   What does that mean?  If you continue to let your thoughts become unruly, your goals will die.  If you continue to be satisfied with your present state especially when you don’t know what lies ahead, it will destroy you.  Stop listening to the self talk, and find the right people to counsel you in the success of those goals… 

Why is this so important?  Because hope deferred makes the heart-sick, and a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.  When your hope is deferred, you have those self talk which destroys the other dreams inside.  There are no words to describe the internal elation when you accomplish your goals.  Therefore, get some advisers or counselors who can help with the self- talk or begin to change what you are saying.

How do you do this?  Start creating affirmations to tell yourself what you want to accomplish.  The more you hear your goals affirmed, the more you will believe what you are saying.  If you believe what you are saying, then you will do what you believe.

Let’s face it.   How many people do you know who passed this life without accomplishing any measurable thing?  It’s because of what they said to themselves.  If you want to be the next person to live on regret, then go right ahead.  I say later for regret, I want my goals met.

Never again will you look at a particularly successful person and sigh, ‘How lucky he is.’ Because you will know that ‘luck’ or ‘fate’ had nothing to do with success or failure. What we call ‘luck’ is, in fact, a direct result of the correct or incorrect application of natural laws anyone can use effectively if he knows how.

Remember, the power to make things happen the way you want them to happen has always been available. You aren’t going to have to create some new source of power within yourself. You are merely going to ‘plug-in’ to the existing power.

The forces of affirmations are very much like electricity. No man invented electricity. It exists in nature. But, until man learned how to make use of the already existing natural phenomenon, he had no electric lights to turn night into day. Now any man can perform that miracle with a flick of the switch. You can also learn this power source through affirmations. These affirmations must be used at its present tense as this is the only way they will work. The tomorrows must start today. Not I will do it. But I am prepared to perform this task right now. Let us begin.

Courage

I face all my problems with great courage, and thus solve them much easily.

Success

I am very successful in all that I do. Because of this, I enjoy abundance of all things, qualities and conditions necessary to the happiness of myself and those around me. Success comes easily to me.

Goals

My goals are high, and I reach them easily and quickly with great aspirations. I constantly keep my mind on the iron rod until my goal is accomplished.

Reading

I read affectively with great comprehension of all subject matter.

Service to others

Other people’s lives is important to me because it’s the only true way to find myself. I always render my service to my fellowmen.

Energy

I possess an abundant supply of energy. My health is important to my well being. The energy flows freely into my life. Its power is never ending. I find my enthusiasm builds my energy and the energy builds my enthusiasm. I develop this energy with constant exercise.

Maturity

I am a mature person with great expectations to improve my own personal development. I am able to relate to people in an intellectual manner thus my life of enrichment is happily fulfilled.

Composure

I have complete composure at all times. I accept challenges and arguments calmly and in good spirit. I recognise that agreements are the inevitable outgrowth when people engage in the problem-solving process.

Faith

I am a faithful person to my spouse, my girl friend, and my children. Faith is a tremendous moving force. I always build this confidence in my love ones. They are important to me in my life.

Speech

I am an excellent speaker, well-prepared, logical, and completely at ease before any group. Or, I am an excellent speaker because I have knowledge of my subject matter and an intense desire for other people to hear and understand it.

Love

I love all people. They are important to my growth. With my god given love I am able to make people feel love in there hearts and extend this love to everyone around. Rust cankers the soul but love lives forever.

Patience

I am a patient person. I take time to listen and move in a patient manner. Life has many riches which cannot be missed. A sweet song, a baby crying, a hug and a kiss, time with my children, time with my spouse. These precious moments are a part of my self worth.