New Year Resolutions: 3 Vital Life Strategies to stay committed to them

As it gets closer to New Years Eve, so does our thoughts and concerns about what new resolutions to apply in our lives. Some desire to lose weight as some want to find ways to become successful.

It doesn’t matter whether it’s big or small because all goals are important to set in our lives. It gives us a passion and motivation to achieve more than what we already have.

Common new year resolutions are normally: losing weight, finding love, becoming rich, quit smoking, or becoming organized.

To share with you some of the goals I set for myself; one is reaching out to more readers who wish to improve themselves. My other goal will be setting out to learn another language. I haven’t decided which language it will be yet, but I’m currently choosing between Cantonese, German, or Italian.

For most people who set new year resolutions, it’s a common notion for around 80% of people to quit after the first several months. It’s easy to conjure up the willpower towards the end of the year because we feel like we’re about to be reborn into a new year. We’re mentally and spiritually fired up to change for the best.

However, after the new year arrives, the amount of people who stay committed to their goals plummet. It’s usually because other factors in life get in the way and they lose that original willpower they had before. They lose the thought of being reborn into a new year.

For my readers who are new to setting new year resolutions and want to incorporate the shopping list of goals into their life, it’s best to know a few basic concepts before starting.

1. Take Baby Steps for each goal you wish to achieve

Never try to eat an entire elephant within one sitting. You’ll only make yourself sick. With that being said, don’t tackle all your resolutions within the first couple of weeks you start your goals. Work on each one separately and take your time at developing the skills you need for them.

Don’t overload yourself by shooting for twenty goals to accomplish by the end of the month.

It’s easy to say we want to become rich, buy the perfect house, get married, have children, and have a beach body. But such thoughts would tire anyone within the first month of trying to achieve them all simultaneously.

Your ultimate plan will be to successfully complete your goals, but work at them daily and don’t think about the end results except once a week. That way, you won’t be mentally strained every second you realize you haven’t reached your designation yet.

2. Commit to it through writing

We wish to better ourselves daily while going about our lives. We wish we find ways to avoid procrastinating, spending useless time on the internet, or being lazy; but those thoughts come and go.

We eventually forget about them and go about our lives, planning to set those goals for ourselves the upcoming year. So don’t let your thoughts wonder off by saying you want to lose twenty pounds, but not committing to those words in one way or another.

An effective method to use is writing your goals on a piece of paper, sticky note, or even on your wall. Set it somewhere you’ll constantly be reminded about.

The more you read something, the more likely that statement will be planted into your subconscious and set you out to achieve that goal to make it a reality.

3. Have someone remind you of your goals

After sticking to our new year resolutions, most of us deal with those pressures alone. We walk a road no other person is at to encourage us and for some, this is what causes them to lose their drive.

They no longer see a purpose for staying committed to something when no one is there to cheer them on. It would be like a sport team playing against someone while having no cheerleaders or fans to cheer them on.

From time to time, especially when someone is struggling, an amazing source of willpower comes from those supporting us. So if you have someone close to you, tell them your goals and ask them to remind you to continue on when you’re about to give up.

As humans, it’s important we receive support from an external source. During the time I wrote my first novel, I encountered days where I became overburdened with work and I had friends who would ask me about my progress. I would hate telling them that I neglected my novel for a couple weeks, and to avoid that awkward feeling, I pushed myself to finish my novel.

Writing Tool to use for setting your new year resolutions:

1. The Bullet Journal

Recently, I was shown a video on how to prepare yourself on achieving your goals for 2015. Before watching the video, I was a little skeptical about applying another way to plan my goals and dreams.

Plus, due to the amount of recommendations I receive based on methods to plan personal goals, I wasn’t sure what to think of it. I usually only recommend methods to my readers if it really helps them on their journey.

Everyone minds work mechanically differently, and it’s necessary to find common core areas we all struggle with. However, after watching the video,

I was profoundly shocked by the accuracy of usefulness it displayed. I usually use a writing journal to keep track of my goals, but the system that Ryder Carroll uses proves to be spot on when dealing with completing our goals. It’s applying a flexible and fast method of tracking your future goals, combining the methods of using a calender and journal.

You don’t have to apply his every method because some people prefer working with color coding and using excel rather than journals. Like I said, people work differently and whatever manner you determine to manage your time will be up to you.

So long as it meets your needs and allows you to stay on track with your objectives, it won’t matter what it is. Below is the video revealing his method of creating the Bullet Journal, and if you’d like, free feel to apply this method for 2015.

Hot Apps to try out

1. Nozbe:

For those interested on using apps, Nozbe is a task management app, meant to track and keep up with tasks you set for yourself daily. It’s a good reminder to use when you’re constantly busy and need a reminder in your pocket that tells you what’s on your list. If you would like a video on how it works based off a personal user experience, it’s below:

2. Strides:

This app allows you to easily measure your tasks and progress you set for yourself throughout the week. It provides one with a dashboard of their life and many have given this app a good review. If you would like to know more about it, here’s a video below:

3. Habitlist:

This app helps the user become more motivated and focused because it keeps track of your habits rather than your goals. It sets a reminder on how you normally behave and lets you reflect if you’re wasting time in one area or the other. If you have goals, but know you have a habit of procrastinating, this app might serve you well.

In final thoughts….

When preparing for the new year with new goals in mind, one of the best things to remember is that you’re not going to achieve them the first week or month you set out for them.

A new year resolution is meant to give you a passion to drive towards and learn in the process. It lets you have a better understanding of yourself as a person when setting out to complete new challenges. It tests your faith in yourself and your ability to continue forward.

You might encounter rough moments that’ll make you want to drop your goals or encounter a lack of motivation; but if it helps, use one of the tools provided above to help you with your journey.