5 Mistakes to Avoid When Setting New Year Resolutions

by Brendan Baker

I absolutely love this time of year. I like to call it the season of dreams. It’s when most people take a step back, reflect on their life and check-in with their inner-self to see whether they are living their most inspirational life.

Unfortunately, most people realise that they are not living their most inspirational life and realise that something needs to change in order for them to move forward. The great thing is, the New Year is full of possibility and so New Year resolutions kick in to get them back on track and move them forward to their most inspirational life. The thing is, this energy, commitment and focus on their goals normally only lasts a couple of weeks as other priorities start to come in again and take over.

Does this sound like you?

Well, you’re not alone. It happens to most people. And there are some common reasons why this happens.

To ensure you set yourself up for success in 2014, you want to avoid these 5 mistakes people make when creating and pursuing their New Year resolutions.

Mistake #1: Your New Year Resolution is Not Linked with Your Values

Believe it or not, most New Year resolutions are not achieved because it’s not important to you. You might be thinking this sounds a little strange, as otherwise why would you be setting the resolution in the first place?

Simply put, it’s most likely that you don’t value what you’re trying to achieve with your New Year resolution as much as what you value in other areas of your life. That’s why you spend your time and energy on doing those other things.

As an example, you might have set a resolution to lose weight. However, this may not be a high core value for yourself. At least, there will be other values that you have which are higher than your value for losing weight. If this is the case, ask yourself why you have set this New Year resolution? If it’s because of social stigma, friends or family etc, realise that it’s not actually of value to you but of value to others.

For New Year resolutions to stick, you need to value them. To get around this, ask yourself the question ‘how can this serve me in other areas of my life’? This can lead you to gain awareness that losing weight might actually have its advantages in other areas of your life in which you do value more highly.

Mistake #2: Your New Year Resolution is Not Written Down

One of the most common mistakes that people make when it comes to setting New Year resolutions is that they don’t write them down.

The simple act of writing down your New Year resolutions can do wonders for your focus and motivation. Writing down your resolutions will force you to structure and organise your thoughts and commit to something in the physical form.

Having it written down can act as a stronger, visual reminder of what it is that you are trying to achieve.

Mistake #3: Your New Year Resolution Has No Action Plan

When setting New Year resolutions, most people set the goal but they don’t take the time to work out how they are actually going to achieve it.

Knowing the end game is just a part of the battle. Unfortunately, I need to break some news to you… you do actually need to take action and make it happen. The first part to this is creating your step-by-step plan on achieving your New Year resolution.

When you have a plan mapped out, make sure you actually schedule it in your diary and commit to it. Make it a habit to work towards your New Year resolution. It will be hard at first but it will always become and more motivating as you progress, get used to the process and start to see results.

Mistake #4: Your New Year Resolution Has No Time-Frame

Another mistake that most people make when setting New Year resolutions is that they do not set a specific time-frame to realise it.

New Year resolutions are just like goals. They need a time-frame to be completed in. When no given time-frame is involved, you will have the opportunity to procrastinate and put off achieving your resolution.

Make sure you set yourself a time-frame to realise your New Year resolution and this should be a clear part of your plan.

Mistake #5: Your Don’t Have the Support You Need to Fulfill Your New Year Resolution

When you’re battling something alone and don’t have the support of others, it can be very hard work.

Surrounding yourself with the right people (being those individuals who are also passionate and interested in what you are trying to achieve), this can have a massive effect on your overall success. These people will hold you accountable to a higher standard, they will motivate you and push you towards reaching your goals.

Thinking about your own New Year resolutions, who in your life will have the biggest positively impact to your success and how can you engage with them more frequently?

Wrapping Up

This is the season of dreams. Ensure that the dream becomes reality by avoiding the 5 key mistakes above.

What can you do differently this year to ensure you remain focused, committed and motivated in achieving success? Have questions for Brendan? Leave a comment.

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P.S. Find your Intuition & find your right path in life with my bestseller: Click here!

Brendan Baker helps people who feel stuck doing work they don’t like start to make a difference and an income doing what they love. He writes over at The Start of Happiness and has created the Launch Your Life Academy to support people gain clarity of their goals in life and stay focused and motivated in achieving them. Feeling stuck? Check out Brendan’s new course here.

Related articles

• 2014: Five Resolutions to Keep Off Your List (lexingtonlaw.com)
• Why You Should Give Resolutions the Boot! (poweredbyintuition.com)
• 5 Tips for a More Creatively Inspired New Year! (poweredbyintuition.com)

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