Crisp Coaching & Consultancy Ltd, Radnor House, 46 Radnor Road, Horfield, Bristol BS7 8QY Tel: 0844 567 6801 Company Registration Number 05379946
Tip 2 - Sustaining your New Year Resolutions
Did you know that 95% of New Year resolutions are not kept?
Here are some tips on how you can ensure success – and these can apply to any goal you might have:
1. Make what you want - be a positive thing
What do I mean by that? - Make sure it is something you want to do, rather than not doing something you don’t want to do. As an example, following the festive season, it is common to resolve to “not eat cakes and sweets any more” (in order to lose weight). You can turn this into the positive by instead resolving “to eat healthily to attain a good weight for your height and build”.
2. Make sure what you want to do is specific
Knowing exactly what you want to achieve means you are much more likely to get it. To continue the festive recovery example - What exactly would eating healthily mean? What kinds of food? What exactly is the weight you want to achieve? What would be a good target measurement for your waist?
3. Make sure your goal involves some things that are measurable
What is there about the food you eat that can be measured? Calories are the usual answer – how many calories per day is right for your life style? If your desired weight is known and you know what a healthy rate for weight loss is per week – you can determine when you should reach your target weight. It’s then easy to work out a monthly or weekly target to achieve.
There’s a saying: “What you measure will be treasured.”
4. Make sure you have some accountability
Goals are much more likely to be achieved if you tell someone else about what you are doing. Tell your friends, your colleagues, your family. If this isn’t appropriate you could get a coach to help.
5. Make sure your goal is realistic and attainable
Having worked out a weekly target you can gauge if this is attainable. If not ,
make the necessary adjustments. It’s good to set yourself challenges, but
be realistic - unrealistic goals will result in discouragement. Why set yourself
up to fail?
6. Make sure the goal is timely
Goals should have a target date. If no date is set, then it could take forever. The process of making it measurable and attainable will involve looking at the time scales involved.
7. Make sure you are excited by your goal
If your goal is dull why bother achieving it. Exciting goals are easier to achieve. This may involve some creativity and/or some planning to reward yourself at the attainment of your goal. Back to the festive example: When you achieve your target weight, what will be your prize? It could be a special holiday or some new clothes. Perhaps that fabulous dress you’ve wanted or fitting into that best suit again. What will it mean to you to achieve the goal? Will it be a healthy life style and so living longer with a much greater quality of life? Whatever you plan, in order for it to happen, it will need to be important and meaningful to you.
8. Record what you are achieving
It’s a well researched fact that goals that are written down have a much more likely chance of being realised. Write down what you want to achieve so that you can see it every day. You could even frame or paint it to make it a work of art. Consider having a special goal calendar on which you can record your targets and your successes.
This is an example of +SMARTER goal setting. Here is a summary:
- + - Goals should be stated in the Positive, i.e. something to go for rather than negatives to avoid.
- S - Goals must be Specific and the more specific the better. State your goal in as exact of terms as possible.
- M - Targets should be Measurable. That which you measure will be treasured, so decide on the measurement for the achievement of your goal.
- A - Goals should have Accountability. To whom or what are you accountable to for the goal?
- R - Goals must be Realistic. Unrealistic goals will lead to discouragement.
- T - Targets should be Time based. Decide your time-table for completion, and stick to it.
- E - Goals should be Exciting. Exciting goals will be met far sooner than boring, bland goals.
- R - Goals should be Recorded, in a place where you can look at it every day.
Setting yourself +SMARTER goals results in the greatest success.
To find out more: Click here to book a free introductory session or take a questionnaire.
