Every year, many people make one or more New Year’s resolutions to change their lives for the better. Some of the most common New Year’s resolutions include losing weight, eating healthier, quitting smoking, drinking less, reducing stress and spending more time with family. Making resolutions to change your life and habits is often quite easy, but for many the follow-through can seem impossibly difficult. Common obstacles can be everyday distractions of life, lack of will power, or simply overly high expectations of one’s own abilities.
Actually, none of these obstacles need get in the way of you achieving your goals to change your life for the better. Here are some tips for succeeding in meeting your New Year’s goals for leading a better life.
Set a realistic goal.
Making a resolution can be exciting and inspiring. Therefore, when you decide what you want to achieve, be sure to set an attainable goal. You should be able to create a step-by-step roadmap with measurable benchmarks that allow you to track your progress. Without measurable expectations, accountability will be impossible, leading to frustration and disappointment. For instance, if you want to lose weight this year, do not simply decide to lose 100 pounds. Work out the method and the math to make sure you can track how you will lose 100 pounds on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. And finally, make sure the math adds up. You should make sure your goal is safely achievable, and if not, revise it. Setting your sights lower does not diminish your accomplishment so long as your life still improves as a result.
Motivation trumps inspiration.
In successfully achieving your resolution’s goal, inspiration will get you only so far. The elation of deciding to change your life is great in the short-term, but without motivation, discipline, and accountability, the decision to change will be short-lived. The great American inventor Thomas Edison said that “genius is 10 percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration.” This maxim is also valid for success in any endeavor that involves changing a personal habit. Without the hard work, focus and perseverance necessary to see the plan through, resolutions tend to fall flat. Being truly motivated will give you the self-confidence and courage to continue on the path to your goal long after the inspiration that set you on your way has faded.
Team-up.
A fantastic way to maintain your motivation is to share your resolution with a trusted group of family and friends. If you share your goals with each other, you will be more likely to provide mutual support through the entire process. Having a support team will also enhance the accountability necessary to keep you focused.
Write it down.
Crucial to succeeding in your New Year’s resolution is writing your goal down along with your plans. The plan need not be a detailed business plan, but an outline containing a strategy with benchmarks and timelines. This will go a long way to helping you focus on the process and the end-game.
A slip is not a fall.
Many people feel that when they lapse into an old habit on occasion that they have failed utterly. Nothing could be farther from the truth. In fact, it is very likely you will slip on the way to your goal. Therefore, it is important to remember that if you slip, get up and keep going! Review your plan, talk to friends, and do whatever it takes to get back on the road.
In the end, New Year’s resolutions are marathons, not sprints. Habits rarely can change overnight. Like anything you undertake in life, hard work and practice will be the true keys to success.
How can Saladmaster help?
Are you trying to live healthier in the New Year? Saladmaster provides support for your decision to live a healthier life with recipes.saladmaster.com. Along with helpful tips on how to use your Saladmaster Healthy Solutions 316 Ti Cookware, the site is full of recipes and ideas for healthy eating and healthy living. The recipes on the site include step-by-step preparation instructions, as well as nutritional information to help you make informed eating choices; preserving nutrition means preserving your health, and the Saladmster Healthy Solutions cooking system is vital in maintaining the essential natural nutrients in food throughout the cooking process. And if you are interested in attending a cooking class by an Authorized Saladmaster Dealer, click here to see if any are currently being offered in your area.
We wish you and your family a very Happy New Year and all the best with your New Year’s Resolutions!