Can you believe we are already in the second quarter of 2020? We thought it’s about time to take stock of how we are all doing with regard to our New Year’s Resolutions. Apparently, 80% of them fail already by the second week of February. If that sounds familiar to you, don’t worry. We won’t judge.
On the last day of 2019, we wrote about our New Year’s Resolutions for .blog. It’s not like we have been thinking about them every single day ever since. We managed to keep up some but also failed to implement others. The truth is, changing behavior for the better is hard. We all struggle with it and could use a little help. That’s what this blog post is all about.
Why is it so hard to keep your resolutions?
No matter how noble our intentions may be, we often fall back into old behaviors after a while. Or, we don’t even start in the first place. To make our resolutions stick, we first have to understand why they fail. These are the most common reasons:
- Goals aren’t specific enough – Resolving to “blog more often” probably won’t provide enough motivation to keep you going. Vague goals lack markers of progress and success, showing you that you are on the right track.
- Too many changes at once – Trying to grow your blog while starting a new diet to lose weight and training for a marathon? Too many lifestyle changes at once cause stress and wear out your self-control. Ultimately, you are less likely to reach any of your goals.
- Unreasonable goals paired with high expectations – Setting big, scary goals can be a big motivator. But, expecting to accomplish too much in a short time frame will likely set you up for failure and disappointment.
- Lack of accountability – Not sticking to your new blog schedule? It’s easy to justify to yourself why you are breaking your resolution. But, that is much harder if someone else is involved.
7 tips for making your resolutions stick this time
Whatever time of the year, it’s never too late to reinvigorate your New Year’s Resolutions. Of course, this will require some serious work and won’t happen overnight. But, with the help of our seven tips, you are much more likely to succeed this time.
1. Keep it realistic
Goals should be a bit scary and push you out of your comfort zone. At the same time, they need to be achievable to keep you motivated. That’s not an easy balance to find. So, consider what you can realistically achieve, given your lifestyle and circumstances. Be absolutely honest with yourself and think about the resources and time you have available. Then, set your goals accordingly.
2. Break big goals down into small steps
Imagine setting the goal of growing your blog to 100,000 visitors a month. Achieving this would be awesome, but how do you even get started? The problem is that the goal in itself is not very actionable. Hence it can seem overwhelming and even paralyzing. The solution is breaking it down into tiny steps that can give you some quick wins. As you build more confidence, you’ll soon be itching to tackle bigger and harder tasks.
3. Make the tasks so easy that you can’t say no
So, you’ve committed to taking small steps towards your goal. But somehow you are still not doing the work. What’s happening? Likely, you are procrastinating on getting started. Don’t worry, there’s a solution for that, too. Suppose you want to get into the habit of writing every day to produce more blog content. How about sitting down for just five minutes to write? You hardly can say no to that. Once you are in the flow, you’re likely to continue writing even after the five minutes are up.
4. Focus on consistency
Even though your goals are important, life always finds a way to distract you. Suddenly you are being pulled in another direction and can’t find the time to work on your resolution anymore. What should you do? Put your goal on hold until you have room in your schedule again or keep at it even if the progress is tiny? We recommend the latter. Consistency is critical to not lose your momentum. Any small progress you make will compound to big gains over time.
5. Forget perfection
You will fail. Everyone does. That’s just a normal part of the process. What’s important is how you treat yourself when you do inevitably slip up. Letting your disappointment send you into a spiral of shame and guilt is not the right way to deal with failure. Instead, forgive yourself and get back on track. Think about what you can learn from your mistakes so you can do better next time.
6. Get others involved
Working all alone towards a big goal can leave you feeling isolated sometimes. It’s much more fun when you get others involved. If you know someone who is working towards a similar goal, make them your accountability partner. It will lighten your load when you know that another person is going through the same challenge as you. Ultimately, you can learn from each other and make progress together faster.
7. Celebrate the successes
Reaching your dream is, of course, the right time to celebrate big. But what about the small victories along the way? Pause regularly to acknowledge what you’ve accomplished as you tick off the milestones en route to your goal. Don’t forget to share your success and get a pat on the back from your accountability partner, spouse, or friends. You deserve it!
You are never alone
Always remember this. We are a community of bloggers determined to help each other out as much as we can. Feeling demotivated or confused about what to do next? Tell us about your struggles. We are here to answer your questions and cheer you on so you can achieve your big goal this year.
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