How to set New Year resolutions & stick to them?

A very happy and prosperous new year to you all! Let the year 2009 be full of result oriented actions which take you ever closer towards your ultimate purpose in life.

On the way back from the UK last week, I sheepishly mentioned to my brother in law Niku that my next blogpost was about “How to lose holiday fat-gain?” He characteristically, in his stoic way replied “Why don’t you write about new year resolutions?” Duh!!! Of course, he was bang on right! Of course it is the New Year, hello? I could only conclude that I had sort of lost my “bearings” after having spent a week in the Swiss Alps; these mountains can do funny things to your head with their enchanting beauty.

Have you made your new year resolution yet?

According to statistics, over 70 % of all Americans have some sort of a New Year resolution. A whopping 45% fall off by the second month. Only 8 % stick to their resolutions through the year. Do you know which category you belong to? If you belong to the former categories or even if you are one of those who sets too many resolutions, do not panic. Now is the time to change, how? Just have at least one resolution. At the risk of stating the obvious, it has been proven that, people with at least one resolution are 10 times likely to succeed than those without.

Some of the more common resolutions are spending more time with family, getting fit, and quitting smoking or drinking, getting out of debt, getting organized blah blah blah

The million dollar question is how can we get into the top 8%? Simple, it starts with being aware of the obstacles and having the right tools to overcome those obstacles.

What are the main obstacles to sticking to your resolutions? According to Alan Marlatt of the University of Washington’s addictive behavior research center, “one of the main obstacles is not having a serious commitment to change”. The reason people lack commitment is because they have not thought deeply enough about why they want to change? For example, if you consider yourself a little over weight, you might want to start asking yourself, “Why do I want to lose weight? How would it impact other areas of my life? Purpose? To feel good? Fit into clothes which I have not been able to in years?”

Mr.Marlatt continues: “The next obstacle is not having a good feedback system in place to track your progress.” A feedback system can range from a nagging significant other to committed friends to progress charts.

How to set a resolution?

Step 1: Identify an issue/habit which is bothering you the most in your life
Be specific, the more detailed the better. While identifying a bad habit, it is important to know why overcoming that habit is important for you (so make sure it is something close to your heart) for eg; instead of saying I want to lose weight, it is more powerful to say I want to lose 15 pounds by this date.

Step 2: Declare war on it (Repeat everyday: I have declared war on …….)
I love this aspect, it is all about mental aggression. Win over the quality mentally with constant reminders by putting stickies in your bathroom mirror or/and on your computers as having already achieved it. For eg; I have declared war on weight gain


Step 3: Focus only on acquiring the positive aspect of the negative quality you want to overcome (forget the negative). For eg: If you want to get rid of fat, focus on acquiring lean muscle

Step 4: Commit to winning no matter what (simple, if you refuse to give up, the positive quality has to manifest)

Tools for implementation

I came across two great tools to help you stick to your resolutions. I have personally not used these tools yet but have used similar tools to great effect

A. Don’t break the chain technique

This technique made famous by Jerry Seinfeld of the famous Seinfeld series has an interesting story attached to it. Please click below for full story

http://lifehacker.com/software/motivation/jerry-seinfelds-productivity-secret-281626.php

As you can see from the chart below, I purposely left out 20th, 21st, 22nd Jan for exercise and the chain looks horrible. So make sure not to break the chain!!! Double click on the chart below to make it bigger





Please click below to download the tool

http://dontbreakthechain.com/

B. Benjamin Franklin’s virtue chart

Franklin one of the founding fathers of the US, a key person in the signing of the declaration of independence, a great scientist, diplomat, politician needs no introduction, had used this tool to develop his character since he was 20 years old. Double click on the chart below to make it bigger



Franklin wanted to acquire 13 virtues and he practiced one virtue per week and completed the cycle every thirteen weeks only to restart. The calendar helped him keep track of how he performed vis a vis that quality. The chart above shows a sample of one virtue (Industry), for a detailed explanation of how papa Franklin used the chart to great effect please click below

http://www.flamebright.com/PTPages/Benjamin.asp

To download the tool please click below

http://www.diyplanner.com/templates/official/hpda/addons/franklin

Conclusion:

It is interesting to note that some of the greatest successes in history have not been because they were just outrageously talented but they have had the discipline to consistently take small steps towards their resolutions. It is all about how consistently we do the everyday tasks. So good luck, make a resolution and monitor it everyday! As Lao Tzu once said: “a journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step’”

Please feel free to post your resolutions in the comments section, and probably our community can cheer you on.