The new year marks a fresh chapter and the perfect opportunity for setting new goals and intentions. Although some unwelcome aspects of 2020 have followed us into 2021, there’s no reason our old bad habits have to do the same. Setting resolutions and goals is the easy part, but what about sticking to them? A recent survey by Sainsbury’s Bank revealed that only 15% of people achieve their New Year’s resolutions – so what’s getting in the way?
Whether it comes down to money, time, or motivation, expert life coach Kirsty Hulse says that accepting you’re going to give up at some point is actually one of the first steps towards succeeding. From picking yourself back up to accountability and rewards, here are some top tips from Kirsty on how to set sustainable goals and actually follow through.
Be specific
It’s easy to just tell yourself “this year I’m going to be a better person” or “this year I’m going to be fitter” – but these are pretty difficult things to measure. When people were recently asked what their resolutions were, the most common were:
- To quit smoking
- To lose weight
- To save for a house deposit
These are all clear and measurable goals. You can track your weight or measurements going down, you can watch your savings grow in your account and you can count the days since you last smoked. It’s easy to look back at where you started and celebrate how far you’ve come, so it’s worth keeping this in mind when setting your goals. If your overall goal is broader – like being more creative, try to break this down into smaller items – like spending a day (or even an hour) a week on a new project or booking yourself into a series of classes/workshops.
Find motivation
It’s annoyingly easy to pick up bad habits, but introducing new, good habits like exercising, eating healthy or saving money feels like much more of a challenge. Humans have two forms of motivation; push and pull. Most of us are met with push motivation regularly – when there’s something you don’t enjoy that you want to push away from. Often, it’s an unfulfilling job pushing you towards finding something new or not fitting into your jeans pushing you towards losing weight. Push motivations get you started but they won’t get you to your goals. We need pull motivation for that – an exciting goal that pulls you in. The key is in figuring out exactly what it is you want at the end of all your hard work. You can’t just focus on getting out of a job you dislike without any vision of where you’re going. You need to know what you want to find. The excitement of being in an environment you love will give you the empowerment and motivation to keep going after the initial push wears off.
Prepare for failure
Whilst it sounds a little counterintuitive, accepting that you’re going to give up at some point is important in sticking to resolutions. It removes the pressure and prepares you for picking yourself back up and renewing your motivation. If you’ve set yourself a goal of exercising every day and you miss two days, the feeling that you’ve already failed can have you giving up altogether. It’s unrealistic to think that you’ll automatically pick up a brand-new habit immediately and never break it. Lack of time and motivation will sometimes get in the way of a new routine, but it’s important to take a step back and look at how far you’ve come. Take the break you need and don’t feel guilty for it. Start back whenever you’re ready, you’ll be glad you did.
Stay accountable
Accountability is key to achieving goals. When only we know what we’re aiming for, it’s much easier to give up when motivation levels drop. Tell loved ones about what you’re hoping to achieve and ask them to hold you accountable for it. Knowing that friends and family want to see you succeed will be in the back of your mind any time you lose sight of your goal, plus you may find a partner to join you on your journey! What’s celebrated is repeated – every time loved ones cheer you on for reaching a new milestone you’ll have a renewed sense of purpose towards your overall goal.
Positively visioning the future
Whilst it’s not quite as simple as visualising something so much that it becomes reality, there is a productive way to use the principles of thinking positively about the future. Research has shown that vision boards really work, but they must be coupled with action. When setting your goals, imagine a time in the future when you’re already there – imagine how you feel, imagine telling your loved ones and living your dream day to day. The excitement and motivation of being able to visualise the end goal allows you to open cognitively and imagine the key milestones that helped get you there. Putting yourself in the future and working backwards is the easiest way to create a realistic path and timeline. Write everything down in a journal and check in with your progress regularly to maintain motivation.
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