Fighting Off The New Year's Breakdown

As we approach the end of January, the gyms start to empty out. If you regularly work out, you might find it easier to grab a treadmill or elliptical the next time you go. Credit card balances across the nation have already ceased to decline. And all that personal time pledged to family and friends has begun to be eaten up by other activities and priorities.

But why is it that only a month into the year resolutions fall apart and people revert to their old ways? Part of the reason is that resolutions are just wishes unless they have a detailed plan behind them. The other reason is that change is difficult, and most people pick radical changes to their lives as their resolutions. But how can you keep your resolutions despite the odds?

Write It Down

Have you written your resolution down somewhere yet? This is one of the old tropes of goalsetters, often citing "studies" that say your chances of completing a goal are some ridiculous percentage higher if you write it down. But regardless of your impact on the outcome, writing your goals down can be part of a process that helps you rationalize and then realize it. Once you have it committed to paper (or digital paper like I do), then you can stop thinking about the actual end goal and start thinking about how to break it down into chunks.

Chunkify It

I'm pretty sure chunkify is not a word, but it should be, meaning "to break into chunks." Even if it were a word, I am not sure I would use it in any context other than chunkifying your goals into smaller, more bite-sized pieces. But you should definitely chunkify it. Goals seem so much harder when they are nothing more than the end result. But the first step of a plan to achieve those goals can seem so much more achievable.

Commit to It

Even if you fall off track with your goals, you can always come back to it. Set your mind and commit that you will accomplish the goal. Confide in someone else that will keep you accountable. Whatever you need to do, do it to commit to achieving what you set out to accomplish. After all, this is a willpower game. You are the one that you have to answer to if you stop accomplishing what you want. You live with the regrets. So you should be your most ardent supporter.

Need Help?

If you need some help breaking your goals down and checking those smaller chunks off the list, or just don't know how to organize it, you might want to download my 2017 goal plan and get to work. It's not too late to turn those resolutions around.