It’s been a tradition here at The Nourishing Gourmet to host a carnival where everyone can share his or her nourishing New Year resolutions. It’s been fun not only to see everyone else’s goals, but also been helpful for online accountability to my own goals.
Since I’ve done this a couple of years now, I am able to look back and see how helpful or successful I have been. I’ve come to the conclusion that, when I follow my own tips in making resolutions, I can accomplish much more than I ever would have without making resolutions. That doesn’t mean I complete all of my goals, or make it 100% on everything. But what it does mean is that I am a better, more effective person when I make goals.
However, when you consider the high amount of people who fail in their resolutions (about 75%, by some statics), you have to consider how to be on the winning side. Here are my ideas and tips on how to be successful in making resolutions. I shared them over at MNN.com as well, but they are important enough to post here too.
I’d love for you to join me in making Nourishing Resolutions together! On January 2nd, I will be posting my resolutions and I invite you to post yours as well.
Should you make New Year resolutions?
It’s that time of year again. With a champagne glass or a decadent dessert by your side, you declare your New Year’s resolution. Lofty and potentially life changing, you are inspired to turn a new leaf this year. However, if you are like 75% of us, your resolution is broken quickly, which leaves you feeling despondent and in an even worse place than you started.
This is dismaying and it begs the question, “Should we even make resolutions?” Despite the high fail rate, I think they can be both life changing and helpful. I think we just aren’t very good at making realistic goals. In fact, I’ve found it extremely helpful to spend a few hours every couple of months looking at my life and reorganizing, rethinking, and preplanning, when needed. So often we simply go through life getting done what we have too, but not doing what we really want too. When you take a step back to evaluate, it can give you perspective.
I’ve found planning goals (a term I prefer to resolutions) very helpful in helping me rebalance my life and learn new skills. If you are interested in making resolutions that actually stick, here are a few tips that I’ve found very helpful.
Make your goal specific
If your goal is simply, “Try to eat more healthy this year”, it’s much too vague and general. How are going to know if you fulfilled your goal? What does “eating healthy” really look like? A much better goal would be to make a specific plan, such as “My goal is to eat a large salad every day” or “My goal is to eat 3-5 servings of fruit and vegetables everyday”. That’s getting better. But I find those goals even a little to vague and general. I like to make it even more specific, such as “Find 3 new recipes for making a vegetable side that the whole family likes”. It’s certainly not grandiose, but it’s a goal I can look at and say, “I can do that”. It also has a clear finishing line, that is, I know when I’ve accomplished it. That sense of victory once accomplished helps motivate me to make new goals, and accomplish those too.
Make it realistic
A good partner to making specific goals is making realistic goals. Don’t set up yourself for failure by setting your goals impossibly high. Don’t even make them hard, but possible. Make them doable. Make them something you know you can actually accomplish. It’s nice to make huge, awe-inspiring goals, but it’s not nice to feel like a failure when you don’t reach your goal by even a quarter. Make it realistic, and you have a much higher chance of accomplishing it.
Make each goal step-by-step
Another thing I have found helpful is making my goals step-by-step. Let me example. Let’s say I want to add more vegetables in my diet. Well, my first goal for January might be something along the lines of “Find 3 vegetable side recipes the family likes” and “Make a large dinner salad once a week for the family”. Once I have accomplished those specific, realistic goals for the month of January, I can move on to new goals in February.
Failing isn’t failing
Part of the way you can assure success is actually by not being too hard on yourself. If your goal is to cut back on sugar, and you fudge on the resolution and eat a slice of cake. Don’t let it discourage you. Consider is a slight setback, and get back on track. You aren’t going to be perfect and if your resolution demands perfection, you are going to fail. So, whether your goal is cutting something out, or adding something in, don’t let setbacks discourage you from getting back on track. Failing once, isn’t failing your goal. Give yourself grace.
Don’t make a goal for a year
If you set up your goal deadline for a really long time in the future, you aren’t going to feel any urgency to get it done. That’s why I prefer making goals specific for each month. One great example is Crystal’s list here. She has a doable goal for each month. They have clear deadlines in a timely fashion.
Keep accountable
It’s more fun and keeps your accountable to partner with someone with similar goals. If you want to exercise more, it’s ideal to have an exercise partner. If you want to eat better, it’s encouraging to have a friend who has the same goal. But even if you don’t have those types of friends in “real life”, even online accountability can be helpful. That’s part of the reason I host a New Year Resolution Carnival each year. IT allows people to share their goals in a public forum. Even simply stating them to someone else can give a sense of accountability and motivation. My husband and I have made goals together, which allows us some accountability as well.
In the end, when I make step-by-step goals that are both realistic and specific, allowing myself to be imperfect but with accountability of some kind, I have found I accomplish much more than I ever would have without New Year Resolutions.
I’d love to hear from you! What tips and thoughts do you have on resolutions or goals? Have you found it helpful or not?
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Meghan
I really like your suggestions! I know that I usually set myself a grand goal but then fall short (or don’t even attempt it!) because it’s too overwhelming. I will keep all of this advice in mind. You’ve now inspired me to try to write a new year’s resolutions post on my blog. =) Thanks!
Joyce
I really REALLY like the idea of a goal each month. You could even use that as a way to “baby step” yourself to a BIG goal. And my new year actually starts on my birthday along with resolutions. For me, that makes it seem more like a beginning. Make resolutions in January … for me there is a weird negative connotation. But that’s just me 😉
Karen
I just finished reading “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho. A very good book when one is thinking of New Year Resolutions, goals, and the like. The boy in the story is looking for his Personal Legend – that which he is supposed to do in life. Well worth the read – is not a long book and and easy read with so much in it for the reader to take away. Our resolutions are really short term goals to reach the long-term ones we have.
(I don’t understand the link to “the thread” that we are supposed to be sure to go to for these communications, unless this is it.)
Thank you for this website. I get so many good ideas.