Tips to making achievable resolutions
1.Reflecting on the mistakes and mishaps of the last year is a good place to start when making New Year’s resolutions. Where could you have done better? What do you want to see change? Just take a look at your weak points and see what you can do about them this year.
2.Align it to your core belief: Good resolutions will align to who you really are. Your passions, dreams and aspirations. You cannot achieve something you are not concerned for. Be keen on this as you think of your resolutions.
3.Be SMART: Being general in your resolutions may limit the chance of achieving them. Resolutions must be Smart. Simple, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound.
4.Write it down (where you can see it often): nothing gets done unless it’s written down. By writing, you convert an idea to an actual issue. It makes it real. Remember to keep it where you can see it often.
5.Break your resolutions in to small action point. Big resolutions must be Brocken down into achievable steps. E.g. Get married is a huge resolution that may need some milestones e.g. Get a partner, propose, plan the wedding, and get married. By breaking the resolutions down, you begin to get the real amount of work and timeframe needed to achieve a goal.
6.Stretch the time frame. Don’t expect to achieve all your resolutions in January. Realistic resolutions will take time. Be mindful of this while setting them. It will help in focusing to achieve your goals.
7.Don’t bite more than you can chew. Many people fail even before starting by setting more objectives than we can handle resource wise, time wise etc., we then get overwhelmed in the process of trying to achieve them all and give up altogether. Concentrate on a few items at a time make them a success.
8.Review periodically. Just as organizations schedule weekly meetings to review progress on annual goals, so do you. To achieve success you will need to schedule regular review times for your objectives. This will help in tracking progress, modifying and even anticipating the success/failure of a certain objective than waiting till end year to review all of your plans. You will need to be disciplined to work at meeting targets, and reviewing your objectives regularly.
9. Be easy on yourself: Even though you may give your best effort to attain your resolutions, sometimes factors beyond your ability may prevent the attainment of the goals. Both anticipated or not, these should not be a reason to give up. A close look will reveal that you attained a good measure of progress and lessons from the effort. These can be take good take-outs from unsuccessful goals and may help you in achieving another goal in the near future. Don’t be too hard on yourself.