We all know that January is the time when most people make resolutions. The challenge, of course, is sticking to them and seeing them through to fruition. Usually, resolutions stay resolutions. Typically they have a shelf life of 30 days. People don’t get very far after making them. In the United States, 40-45% of adults make resolutions. Once those resolutions are made 75% of people maintain them past the first week and the rate continues to decline: 71% maintain past the second week, 64% after the first month and only 46% maintain them beyond the 6 month point and the percentage declines to about 10% after one year.
If you made resolutions, where are you right now? Statistically speaking, if you made it past the first month, you’re part of the aforementioned 64% of adult Americans. One primary reason that resolutions aren’t kept is because there’s no plan for carrying them out. Resolutions aren’t strong enough; they have to be made into goals with a concrete plan to carry them out. You might be at a point where you created goals and a plan, but haven’t gotten any further, you started but haven’t finished your plan or you’re just stuck. In addition to not turning your resolutions into goals and creating a plan, other reasons that come into play are fear of success, or change, low self esteem, and perfectionism.
If you’re stuck or have already dropped out of the running it’s time to make a change. First of all, if you only created resolutions, make the time to change them into S.M.A.R.T. goals, so that they have some staying power. If you created a plan and you’re stuck, ask yourself why you’re stuck. Is it because you’re plan wasn’t solid enough, with all of the necessary components, or was it because you just haven’t been in motion and the accountability piece of the puzzle just wasn’t there?
If you’re stuck because you haven’t been in motion, the key is to change your way of being. Simply take a step back and look at who you’ve been being in the process, and not so much what you’ve been doing. Determine who it is you need to be to affect the change that will have you staying on track. If you still have resolutions, morph them into goals and create a plan to carry them out. Once you have goals and a detailed plan, implement systems and practices to support you in working your plan. Doing so will get you past the 30 day point.