Keep momentum with your new goals
According to research Friday 12th January is Quitter’s Day, the day when most people give up on their new year resolutions and goals. Have you managed to outlast Quitter’s day?
It’s hardly surprising that many goals that people set don’t last: they’re not well formed, they don’t tell a story (superficial rather than identity based) and we often don’t actually believe them anyway. The number of times I have heard people set goals and then immediately laugh at themselves - honestly give yourself a break, you will never achieve something you don’t believe possible.
I’ve been sharing some tips on the gram 🤢 recently to help set goals and habits that stick, and as important as it is to set good goals it’s also important to have some tools to maintain momentum:
Keep reminding yourself of your “why”. Aligning your goals to your core values and identity helps to keep going. When you falter you can say “I want to keep doing this because…”
Break it down. We cannot go from 1 -100, our brain doesn’t understand, and it is difficult to keep focused when the gap feels huge. ALWAYS break down your goals when you set them, and if you are faltering break them down again, do what you need to do to keep yourself motivated and consistent.
Talk to others. Accountability buddies help as does voicing our intentions to others, for some reason we are much more likely to keep our commitments when others are involved (even though keeping commitments to self is the definition of self discipline and self love ☺)
Keep a log. How good does it feel to tick something off a to do list? The same dopamine hit can be used for logging progress on goals and consistency of habits, what sort of log could work for you?
Reward yourself. Carrots work better than sticks so give yourself encouragement and kindness rather than judgement. Having a tough day? Remind yourself how far you have come and how it feels. Hit a process goal or milestone, celebrate somehow.
Remove obstacles. We instinctively know what might prevent us from achieving our goals and habits. Perhaps it is a certain friend, perhaps it’s social media or those pesky games on our phones, perhaps it’s something in your environment. Consider how you can make it easier to complete your goals, rather than allowing those obstacles to make this more difficult.
Make a plan for when you go off track. You will go off track, some days will just not go to plan. You may as well plan for when this happens so you know what you need to get going again. This could be an adjustment, it could be some positive self talk, it could be ranting at a buddy, it could be scheduling. What will your plan be?
Let me know which of these tips hit home most for you :)
Is now the right time for you to get clear on your goals with the support and challenge of a coach? Check a time on my online diary and let’s chat
