It's the New Year!!!
Which ultimately means you're hearing around the office, "New Year, New Me", "I'm going on a diet", "I'll be hitting the gym tonight and every night until I get to my goal weight THIS YEAR! "I'm finally going to get out of DEBT" And that's great! But it's actually time to be practical. The New Year is a great time for new beginnings, but we really have to make sure that we stay realistic so that we never fall back into our old habits within a month... Below are a few tips that'll help you stick to your New Year, New You goals...
1. Be Realistic
Be real with yourself. Though it's possible, it's not healthy, nor realistic to lose a LARGE sum of weight within a short period of time. And though it's possible to win $40 million to pay off all your debt, the chances are slim. So be realistic with yourself and don't push yourself to failure by applying too much pressure on yourself.
2. Set short term goals... and stick to them
This is very similar to being realistic. We all have things we really and truly want to work on. So if it's weight, saving money, getting out of debt, or attaining any personal goal, how about set weekly and monthly goals for yourself in quarters. This way you're able to be realistic and feel accomplished. So an example of this would be to break the year down into quarters. That would give you January - March, April-June, July-September, October-December. Within those months, set up monthly goals for you to hit and things you need to do weekly to hit them and watch how amazingly you'll succeed.
3. Reward yourself
Anyone that's taken a psychology class, or lived for more than 2 years knows that positive reinforcement is a great tool to help change and shape behavior. So, with that being said, use your short term goals to reward yourself. But don't reward yourself with FOOD or SHOPPING if you're trying to lose weight or save money! Instead, reward yourself with a spa day, a pedicure, a walk around your favorite park, something worthwhile that won't set you back (remember, tailor this to your goals and end result).
4. Accept setbacks but don't stay there
Face it, you will encounter set backs, whether major or minor. But don't allow your setback to define you or deter you from your goals. You ate a cupcake when it wasn't time for your cheat meal, you couldn't resist a good deal on amazon.com so you bought something, you missed a week at the gym... Well, things happen. Accept it and move forward! You're not a failure until you quit trying, so just try again... You can do it!
5. Believe in Yourself
We've all heard it... Believe in yourself. It sounds so simple, but honestly, it's something that you really have to work at. Believe in yourself and believe that right now you have everything that you need to reach all your goals. Remember that and keep pushing through and before you know it, you'll be celebrating a year fulfillment next year at this time... So do yourself a favorite and believe in yourself and go for everything you want in 2017!
