The Goal Book – Part 3 How to Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions

If you really want to keep your New Year’s Resolutions, try using a Goal Book. When used regularly, it is a powerful tool toward achievement. As the year progresses, we get distracted and it’s easy to stray from our New Year’s intentions. We start out with a sense of commitment, but following through requires tenacity beyond New Year’s Eve. That’s where the Goal Book comes in. It not only lists your goals and resolutions, it logs your progress toward them, giving you the encouragement to stick to your resolutions.

Here are some tips we discovered that helped us get the most out of this amazing tool:

1. Work with a Partner. Two heads really are better than one, especially when both are working towards the same goal. When you work with a partner, you make a quasi-public commitment to do something and that challenges you to stay on track. You both will look forward to posting in your Goal Book once-a-week. When something productive happens or you reach a milestone, you can’t wait to share it and post it. When you post together, you often remind each other of events that might otherwise go overlooked.

2. List Last Year’s Successes. At the end of every year, make a list of the accomplishments you have made in every category. When you start a new book for the New Year, put last year’s accomplishments on page one. Your history of achievements in each area will reinforce your ability to succeed. This will be encouraging and empowering when setting your goals and resolutions for the New Year.

3. Post Weekly. Getting into a disciplined routine may be challenging at first. But as you begin making progress, you will look forward to posting the “scoreboard” with the progress you have made toward your goals. What if you miss a week? No problem. Just enter twice the posts. Try not to let it go too long lest you forget the progress you have made. It’s the constant reminder that we are making progress that keeps us on track and excited about achieving our goals.

4. Review Your Achievements. Some weeks we don’t make much progress in some areas, so that’s when we review our progress in the past. We usually read 4 or 5 past posts leading up to the present. It reminds us that we are progressing, albeit slowly and incrementally. That keeps us going. Also, because we post in several categories, we see progress in other areas, and that’s encouraging.

5. Celebrate your Successes. When you do finally achieve a goal or have a major breakthrough in one category, celebrate! It’s important to stop and take the time to acknowledge your achievement. It empowers you to take on the next challenge, and it is fun. Don’t take small successes for granted and immediately focus on what’s next. Acknowledgement builds confidence and commitment.

The Goal Book is a great way to break down our goals into bite-sized pieces, and gives us the regular validation that keeps us going. Constant review and posting keeps us focused on our goals and helps us see every opportunity that comes our way. Are you ready to make your New Year’s Resolutions list? This year put it in a Goal Book.