New Year's Resolution step-by-step

Have you already been thinking about how you are going to improve your personality this year? Or at least take a new coming year as a great occasion to get rid of bad habits and to pick up good ones?

You are right, that is exactly that precious opportunity to start over. The time when we misguidedly imagine that the arrival of a new year will magically provide precious persistence and motivation we need so much to reinvent ourselves.

Traditionally, New Year’s Day is styled as the ideal time to reconsider your old and to kick-start a new page in your life. The time when you must make your personal new year’s resolution. Unfortunately, the beginning of the year is also one of the worst times to make a major change in your habits because it’s often a relatively stressful time, right in the middle of the party and a holiday season.

The biggest mistake of lots of guys is to immediately set yourself up for failure, by vowing to make huge changes that will be hard to keep. Instead, as a piece of advice, just follow these seven steps to successfully build a new year’s resolution you can stick to for a good final result.

1_ Pick One Thing

If you want to change your life or your lifestyle don’t try to change the whole thing at once. It won’t work. Instead, just pick one area of your life you feel the most important, to begin with.

Make it something concrete, so you know exactly which change you’re planning to make next. If you’re successful with the first change you can go ahead and make another change after a month or so. By making small changes one after the other, you still have the chance to be a whole new you at the end of the year, so it becomes a more easy and realistic way of doing it.

Don’t pick a New Year’s resolution that’s bound to fail either, like running a marathon if you’re 40lbs overweight and get out of breath walking upstairs, in case that resolves simply walking every day. When you’ve got that habit down pat you can graduate to running in short bursts, constant running by March or April and a marathon at the end of the year. What’s the one habit you most want to change?

2_ Plan Ahead

To ensure success you need to research the change you’re making and plan ahead, so you have the resources available when you need them. Here are a few things you should do to prepare and get all the systems in place ready to make your change.

Catch some inspiration — Go to the library and get books on the subject. Whether it’s quitting smoking, taking up running or yoga or becoming vegan there are books to help you prepare for it. Or use the Internet. If you do enough research you should even be looking forward to making that change.

Plan for success — Get everything ready, so things will run smoothly. If you’re taking up running make sure you have the trainers, clothes, hat, glasses, iPod loaded with energetic sounds at the ready. Then there can be no excuses.

3_ Anticipate Problems

There will be problems so make a list of what they’ll be. If you think about it, you’ll be able to anticipate problems at certain times of the day, with specific people or in special situations. Once you’ve identified the times that will probably be hard to work out ways to cope with them when they inevitably crop up.

4_ Set up the Deadlines

You don’t have to make these changes on New Year’s Day. That’s the conventional wisdom, but if you truly want to make changes then pick a day when you know you’ll be well-rested, enthusiastic and surrounded by positive people. I’ll be waiting until my kids go back to school in February.

Sometimes picking a date doesn’t work. It’s better to wait until your whole mind and body are fully ready to take on the challenge. You’ll know when it is when the time comes. Don't push too hard, but remember to hit the deadlines.

5_ Go for It

On the big day go for it 100%. Make a commitment and write it down on a card. You just need one short phrase you can carry in your wallet. Or keep it in your car, by your bed and on your bathroom mirror too for an extra dose of positive reinforcement.

Your commitment card will say something like:

“I enjoy a clean, smoke-free life”

“I stay calm and in control even under times of stress”

“I’m committed to learning how to run my own business”

“I meditate daily”

6_ Accept Failure too

If you do fail and sneak a cigarette, miss a walk or shout at the kids one morning don’t hate yourself for it, but do not accept it either. Make a note of the triggers that caused this setback and vow to learn a lesson from them.

If you know that alcohol makes you crave cigarettes and oversleep the next day cut back on it. If you know the morning rush before school makes you shout then get up earlier or prepare things the night before to make it easier on you.

Perseverance is the key to success. Try again, keep trying and you will succeed!

7_ Plan Rewards

Small rewards are the best motivation and encouragement to keep you going during the hardest first days. After you achieved a small sub-goal, you can probably reward yourself once a week with a magazine, a long-distance call to a supportive friend, a siesta, a trip or whatever makes you tick.

Later you can change the rewards to monthly and then at the end of the year you can pick an anniversary reward. Something that you’ll look forward to. You deserve it, and you’ll have earned it.

Whatever your plans and goals are for this year, I’d do wish you luck with them but remember, it’s your life, and you make your own luck.

Decide what you want to do this year, plan specifically how to get it step-by-step and simply go for it. And remember that nothing is impossible until it's done! ❤