Living Intentionally in 2014: How to Make Realistic New Year’s Resolutions
Happy New Year!
Today is the day we get to start our year fresh, a beautiful clean slate.
Here are a few tips about making your own New Year’s Resolutions:
1) Keep your list short.
My goal list for this year has eight goals, but many of those goals are things I’ve already been working on. If you’re completely new to realistic goal-setting, I recommend choosing no more than four areas you really want to focus on.
2) Choose what’s important to you, not what you think is important to other people.
If you love gorging on junk food but someone else wants you to eat healthier, and you put “stop eating junk food” as your resolution, you are setting yourself up for failure. You need to make a resolution based on what you want for your life.
3) Set goals that you can actually obtain.
Choosing a goal that you can’t control is another way to set yourself up for discouragement and failure. For example, you can’t make yourself lose 25 pounds this year. A better goal would be to determine to exercise three times per week and only eat junk food that you make from scratch. In doing so, the extra weight will naturally start dropping off.
4) Have an accountability partner.
When I announced that I’m going to blog three times per week this year, I created a natural accountability to my readers. My husband and I are striving to be out of debt by our anniversary and we’re accountable to each-other for every dime we spend. It’s much easier to stay on track with our goals if we know we’re going to have to explain to someone else why we didn’t stick with it.
5) Give yourself room for imperfect progress.
I love the phrase “Imperfect Progress” that Lysa TerKeurst refers to. We can’t make goals and expect ourselves to magically be great at keeping them. We’re going to fail at something or move slower than we want. It’s okay, The important thing is that we keep making progress. Notice how far you’ve come, not just how far you have to go.
6) Celebrate your successes!
Did you completely declutter your own home (or even one room in your home)? Pay off a credit card? Spend some fun time with your kids every day this week? Cook dinner almost every night for a month? Reward yourself! Read a good book, watch a movie with your family, give yourself a pedicure, or go to Starbucks with a friend.
What about you? What tips do you have for those who are making resolutions this year?
Make Your Home a Haven
You’re only 10 days away from a haven at home. This FREE email course will help you get there.
During our time together, I'll teach you how to implement specific processes and systems so you can make immediate progress.
If you want to stop feeling stuck at home so you can be ready for whatever God has in store for you, sign up now.
