Set Your Mind for a Successful New Years Resolution
The fresh beginning of a New Year is a great time for you to state your New Year's Resolution. However, so many times when people make resolutions they simply aren't successful. The fault may not be in your execution but in the way the way the resolution was formed. You can succeed if you construct a resolution with a few smart steps.
A list of resolutions is fine, but work on one at a time. Otherwise the effort needed is too great, and you may get discouraged. So work on one resolution at a time; choose realistic goals and make sure there is a way to measure your progress.
Your goal should be specific and stated in the present tense. "I will exercise more" or "I will make more money" are not specific enough. If you exercised for five extra minute a week, you will be exercising more but it won't make a difference. If you are more specific, your mind will deliver what you want. State the goal the way you want it and as if you have already obtained it. "I am exercising thirty minutes a day, everyday" or "I am making x dollars a month." If you use future tense, you are putting things into the future, and that is exactly where they will remain. State the resolution in the present state and act as if you have already resolved it.
Resolutions should be stated in the positive. So don't say "I want to stop eating sweets" or "I no longer want to be poor." The mind will have to process the negative in order to understand the goal. For instance, if you state "I no longer want to be poor." Your mind will first form the idea of being poor, before it can reverse the image. Your mind will take you in the direction you tell it, whether it's positive or negative, so put the positive tense first.
Avoid statements like "I will try to stop smoking." If I told you I would try to attend a party, would you really expect me to show up? Probably not. Why would you expect your mind to take a command seriously when you use the word try? Simply put, you are not or you are doing it.
Make sure you are doing something for you and you alone. Resolving to do something for a family member or society is a sure way of setting oneself up for failure. Is it from your heart? Is it meaningful to you? You want it and what are you willing to do for it? Be responsible for the goal you are setting. Make sure it is possible for you to achieve it. Don't make a resolution to prove something. Make a resolution that is attainable and self-initiated. Remember there is always a bit of discomfort in change because you are reprogramming a past behavior. This is only temporary. As you work through the difficulties, the positive changes will occur. The discomfort is very small compared to the pay-off.
And understand that if you are making the same resolution year after year it, your past failures could be the result of a previous conditioning. What you are failing to do in the present is most likely based on something you learned in the past. There is a seed of hope here: if you can learn it you can unlearn it.
So instead of 'resolution', make this a year of 'revolution'. A series of small changes, with each new achievement building on the previous incremental successes. With achievable, present, positive and meaningful resolutions you can start the new year with success.
A list of resolutions is fine, but work on one at a time. Otherwise the effort needed is too great, and you may get discouraged. So work on one resolution at a time; choose realistic goals and make sure there is a way to measure your progress.
Your goal should be specific and stated in the present tense. "I will exercise more" or "I will make more money" are not specific enough. If you exercised for five extra minute a week, you will be exercising more but it won't make a difference. If you are more specific, your mind will deliver what you want. State the goal the way you want it and as if you have already obtained it. "I am exercising thirty minutes a day, everyday" or "I am making x dollars a month." If you use future tense, you are putting things into the future, and that is exactly where they will remain. State the resolution in the present state and act as if you have already resolved it.
Resolutions should be stated in the positive. So don't say "I want to stop eating sweets" or "I no longer want to be poor." The mind will have to process the negative in order to understand the goal. For instance, if you state "I no longer want to be poor." Your mind will first form the idea of being poor, before it can reverse the image. Your mind will take you in the direction you tell it, whether it's positive or negative, so put the positive tense first.
Avoid statements like "I will try to stop smoking." If I told you I would try to attend a party, would you really expect me to show up? Probably not. Why would you expect your mind to take a command seriously when you use the word try? Simply put, you are not or you are doing it.
Make sure you are doing something for you and you alone. Resolving to do something for a family member or society is a sure way of setting oneself up for failure. Is it from your heart? Is it meaningful to you? You want it and what are you willing to do for it? Be responsible for the goal you are setting. Make sure it is possible for you to achieve it. Don't make a resolution to prove something. Make a resolution that is attainable and self-initiated. Remember there is always a bit of discomfort in change because you are reprogramming a past behavior. This is only temporary. As you work through the difficulties, the positive changes will occur. The discomfort is very small compared to the pay-off.
And understand that if you are making the same resolution year after year it, your past failures could be the result of a previous conditioning. What you are failing to do in the present is most likely based on something you learned in the past. There is a seed of hope here: if you can learn it you can unlearn it.
So instead of 'resolution', make this a year of 'revolution'. A series of small changes, with each new achievement building on the previous incremental successes. With achievable, present, positive and meaningful resolutions you can start the new year with success.
