5 Tips for your New Year goals

It’s that time again

It’s New Year Resolution time, again. (Well, it was when this was written on 31 December.) And New Year is the time when lots of us decide that it’s the time for a change and a new start and for fresh goals.

We decide that it’s the time to turn our lives around for the better.

So we decide we need Goals. We need to:

Lose weight
Get fit
Give up junk food
Quit smoking
Drink less alcohol
Spend less money – save more
Be more motivated, focused…

And we do this despite research suggestions that New Year goals rarely last very long: they last from a few days to a few weeks (it really depends on which bunch of researchers you decide to believe).

Why don’t we stick with our plans?

Why don’t we resolve to stay with our resolution? One common reason is that our New Year Resolutions are just impulsive whims – we create them because everyone else is doing so.

So the resolution is really a ‘wish’ rather than a plan.

And we stick to our ‘wish’ for a few days and then we get back to reality. But, instead of relaxing into things, we begin to feel weak or guilty for not sticking to our plans!

4 Tips for realistic New Year goals

So here 4 ways of transforming the ‘wishes’ into more realistic plans or goals.

1. Don’t make a New Year Resolution

Not at the New Year, at any rate.

It’s the wrong time. Life is usually a bit disorganised and even chaotic at the tail end of the holiday period. Wait for a week or four until normality has returned and then start. Use this time to make a plan and to read the articles which are linked below).

2. Just one resolution – not a shopping list

Select just one important change and focus your attention on this. Having a handful or a long list is too daunting. Ideally your new resolution should little step outside your Comfort Zone – not a full-on expedition into Stretch.

3. Don’t ‘give things up’ – replace them!

So many New Year resolutions are about losing things., Giving up. Not doing things. The problem with this is that we become obsessed with thoughts about the thing we don’t want to think about. ‘Giving up’ focuses on loss, missing out, and struggle. So instead of, say, ‘giving up’ cigarettes choose ‘freedom from cigarettes.’ Instead of ‘losing weight’ focus on becoming more lean.

4. Have a real plan – not just a fluffy wish

Do this before you begin.

Break down your plan into bite-sized chunks – so achieving each piece becomes a success.

Let’s say your plan is “I want to be fitter’.

This is admirable but too fluffy to be achievable.

Replace this with ‘By the end of 3 weeks I will be able to walk briskly for 10 minutes while breathing comfortably. Then I will increase my ‘comfortable breathing walking time’ by 5 minutes a week until I reach 40 minutes’.

If your plan is to change your weight make the plan detailed and measurable. Instead of ‘I must lose weight’ but ‘I intend to enjoy being 6 lbs slimmer by 30 April. I will achieve this by reducing my weight by 1.5 pounds a month. And I will do it in this way…’

Our own NLP PECSAW Model for goal planning is the ideal tool for this latter stage in the process.

(This article was originally published on 29 December 2013. It has now been rewritten – and Tips 4 and 5 have become Tip 4!)