Increase the Success of Your New Year’s Resolutions by 10 Times

Well, it is finally here, 2013 has begun…so let the resolutions begin! Did you know that, according to the Journal of Clinical Psychology (Volume 58, Issue 4), “people who explicitly make resolutions are 10 times more likely to attain their goals than people who don’t explicitly make resolutions.”

Do any of these resolutions sound familiar? To be honest with you a lot of these resolutions are on my list as well. So what does the opening statistic really mean for all of us? Well, you and I need to be intential about 2013 and our resolutions .

As I develop my resolutions for 2013, I start with the end in mind. I try to answer the following questions:

• I think about where I want to be on December 31, 2013.
• What do I want to accomplish this year?
• How are my relationships?
• Think about specific areas of your life: health, career, finances, relationships, etc.

I also believe when it comes to resolutions that you need to have S.M.A.R.T. goals:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Relevant
• Timely

What this means is that I just can’t say I want to be healthier in 2013. What I need to do is ask myself more probing questions: How do I want to be healthier? Do I want to lose weight? Build muscle? Eat less junk food and more vegetables? Lower my cholesterol?

Once I have a better idea of what I want my resolution or overall goal to be, then I can set an action plan in place.

Review your resolutions on a constant basis. I prefer weekly so that I am keeping them on the forefront of my mind. This allows me to keep up with my goals and not forget about them.

So to sum it up, remember for 2013 to:

• Write down explicate resolutions
• Create an action plan for each
• Review them frequently

What are your resolutions for this year?