As the holiday season winds downs, many people will find themselves looking toward the new year with a renewed list of personal goals and projects they will hope to integrate into their already busy lifestyles.
Making resolutions is not a new concept. In fact, the process of making New Year's resolutions can be traced all the way back to Babylonian times. However, it seems that a majority of people who start the year with great intentions and a strong sense of motivation often end up allowing these goals to fall by the wayside.
Whether your goal is to increase exercise in your life, improve your financial standing or to move forward in your career, the process of change can be difficult to set into motion and harder still to maintain throughout the year. Below is a list of suggestions to help make your New Year's resolutions mainstays in your daily life:
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Choose a goal that feels personal to you: Ask yourself, "Why do I care about this?" If you can develop a personal connection to the change that you want to make, you will be more likely to put in the time and effort to attain your goal.
Develop an action plan: Make a list of the steps that you need to take in order to achieve your goal. Make sure that you understand what will be needed in order to make your goal become a reality. If you have false expectations, you are just setting yourself up for failure!
Be realistic in your planning: Create action steps that are realistic for you. If you are a single parent with many responsibilities, it may not be realistic for you to devote much time each week toward your particular goal. Tailor the steps you need to take to your lifestyle.
Celebrate the successes along the way: We have a tendency to be somewhat shortsighted in the ways that we define success. The truth is, each change we make, is comprised of many smaller changes. When we are able to celebrate each of the smaller successes, it helps to keep us motivated and moving forward.
Surround yourself with positivity and people who support you: Change is hard and negativity spreads like wildfire. When we keep positive people and positive energy in our lives, it helps to improve our motivation. A central part of change is the attitude with which we approach making the change. As Maya Angelou once said, "If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude."
Don't give up easily: If you experience a setback or begin to feel unmotivated, keep moving and don't give up! Remember why you made your goal in the first place and jump start your motivation with reminding yourself why this goal is important to you.
Remember, change takes time. Few things in life happen overnight and without time and effort.
On behalf of Lycoming Healthy Living, we wish you and your family a happy holiday. For more information, visit www.lycominghealthyliving.com.
