6 Sure-Fire Ways to Make Your Resolutions Resolute

A Transformational New Year’s Checklist

While New Years resolutions are popular, they also have been shown to sometimes set us up for failure. You may make a list of major goals, not really taking into account how you will reach them, or you overcommit yourself to something you didn’t really enjoy in the first place. This will leave you disappointed and perhaps worse off, so it’s important listen to yourself and to get strategic.

Before cranking out those resolutions, take a moment to consider the dreams you’d like to work towards. Break these dreams down into actionable goals to keep you from feeling overwhelmed. You’ll also create a roadmap for success that will leave you more confident and better likely to meet your goals.

We created a checklist for you to make the goal setting process more impactful… and easier!

Behold our New Year Transformation checklist.

Find time to spend with just yourself
If you can’t really get focused, you’ll get caught up in the noise of what everyone else is telling you that you should do, or perhaps even comparing your goals to those of your friends. Take time to sit with yourself for a real, raw brainstorming session.

Get organized
List all the projects and goals you would like to complete during the new year into a “wish list.” Then take the time to categorize these goals. For example: say you want to create a morning routine for success, and you also want to take up daily meditation. You could put meditation under the umbrella of your morning routine, which might also fit under a category such as “self-improvement.”

Set priorities
Trim your goals to the top five. Really ask yourself: what are the most important goals and priorities? Plan to start working towards these first as it will be more likely that you’ll feel motivated to accomplish these goals. Also, paring them down helps you realize what you’ll stick with so you don’t wind up with a long list of “should haves” and a feeling of regret.

Plan and attack!
Create a specific timeframe for your goals. Some might be weekly, while others might be longer term, such as learning a difficult song on an instrument. Breaking these down into small, actionable steps over time makes it more likely you’ll reach your goals with success.

Re-evaluation
Re-evaluate after a month. This will give you the opportunity to show yourself some love for how far you’ve come. You can also replace goals that you no longer have a burning desire to learn, and then use surplus time for other goals. Perhaps something that seemed less important to you while you made your list has risen up the totem pole. Life is flexible, messy, and unpredictable. Go with the flow!

And a final tip to keep in mind while brainstorming, making goals, and reevaluating: keep your future in mind
Envision your ideal life for a while. Do your goals align with that? Write down your ideal life in 1 year, five years. Do your goals bring you closer to that picture. If so, they’re keepers. Perhaps you don’t see it now, but a shorter term goal of becoming a yoga teacher might make you better at your long term goal of becoming a therapist. On the other hand, taking up knitting might me too much if you also want to learn an instrument and start studying for graduate school. Keep a positive mental picture in your mind of where you’d like to be, also knowing that that too may change.

We’d love to hear about your goals for the new year, or what you’ve done in the past to meet your goals. Share in the comments!

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