It’s that time of year when we’re all focused on what we want to accomplish for the New Year. Now, most of us are looking at 2021 with the hope that it will be better than in 2020. Which I’m here to tell you if you’re thinking that 2020 was awful, you are stepping into 2021 with that energy. Be thankful for what it was for you and let’s move on. Make it simple!
When we hear the question, what is your New Years’ resolution, what comes up for you? Do you get into panic mode thinking you need a New Years’ resolution? Do you try to create a huge dream for yourself, only to get a week into the New Year and have the excitement fizzle away?
Yeah, I used to as well. I would get so excited and set so many ambitious goals. Lose weight, be a better person, make more money, all the things. And I expected the results sooner than they came. Then by February (and that’s even pushing it), all is forgotten and life is back to the way it was back in December of the previous year.
But what if there was a way to stick to your resolution?
I’m not saying it’s going to be easy. Changing your habits can be hard, especially if you don’t really want to.
I’m here to share six best practices for sticking to your New Years Resolution:
1/ Ask yourself why. Why do you want to lose weight? Why do you want to make more money? If you have a compelling reason why you’re more likely to stick to the goals you set for yourself. (If you want to lose weight, and your reason is to look better in a swim suit, is that reason going to be able to motivate you even when it gets hard?) In two weeks when doubt starts creeping in (because it will we’re all human and changes can be scary), come back to your why and remind yourself why you’re doing this in the first place.
2/ Don’t wait until the New Year. Start your goals now. Change doesn’t happen in a day and the sooner you start, the sooner you’ll get the results you want. Even if you decide in February that you’d like to partake in the resolution, start it then. There’s no time like right now to change your life.
3/ Be self-aware with your actions and why you’re indulging. If you want to lose weight and you’re about to eat an entire sleeve of Oreos, notice that! Ask yourself at the moment if this aligns with the result you want, the result to lose weight. If it’s a no, have an oreo or two and put them back. The urge to eat more will go away and with more practice in allowing the uncomfortable urge to just happen, it will be gone altogether.
4/ Tell someone! I know a lot of people are scared to share their goals just in case they don’t reach them but that mindset is already thinking you’re going to fail. What if you couldn’t fail and what you were going to create is inevitable? You’d tell everyone! So go shout it on the roof tops! You’ve got this!
5/ Mistakes are okay and normal. Mistakes and failure are also what you make them. Let’s say you do eat the whole sleeve of Oreos. What will you tell yourself? That you’re a failure and you’re never going to lose the weight? Now, tell me (mainly yourself) why that is helpful to your end result? Be kind and compassionate to yourself and recognize how you were feeling when you ate the whole sleeve. That way you can be aware of it next time BEFORE you eat the whole sleeve and decide if that’s part of your end result. It’s as simple as that, allow it to be simple.
6/ Be focused on your results, not the how. Listen, if you knew how you would have done it already. You can’t read your way slimmer, you can’t read your way to make more money. You need to take active action that aligns with your end result. If something doesn’t work, evaluate what did work and what didn’t and make a plan to change what you can do so you can still achieve your end result.
A huge goal of mine is having my animal rescue on my property. I want to build a nice facility for my animals to either live out their life or get adopted out. My life one year ago would not take me where I want to go without me sacrificing my wellbeing (working more hours, adding more services I didn’t want to add) and I wasn’t willing to do that. So I changed directions with my business and made the smartest move of my life. My “how” has drastically changed, but my end result of having my animal rescue on my property will stay the same until I achieve that goal. That is my dream goal and I will achieve it doing what I love.
You can have your dream goal and enjoy the process as well.
Love your reason why, evaluate as you move forward so you always know what to work on next, and keep living your life. You can have fun in this process! Life is full of rich experiences and those experiences are meant for us to have.
Enjoy your New Year! Be safe, have fun, and love yourself.
Melissa Etzler
I’m Melissa Etzler, a mom of two, wife, and life coach. I help you with all the things, because there’s a lot. Especially when running your own business, and being a mom, and also being a wife. I show you how to live your life with purpose and meaning from the inside out. I’ve been an entrepreneur for seven years and I absolutely love being a life coach. The transformation from self doubt to self worth is something I feel blessed to be able to contribute to the community and beyond, because it will literally change your life. In my spare time I love volunteering for the community and am the president of Wood Violet Animal Rescue a local non profit. I know what it’s like to want more from life and am excited to share with all of you how to achieve your dreams and live your life with true meaning. Podcast / Website / Instagram
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