4 Keys to Succeed With Any New Year Resolution

Most resolutions involve bettering your life in some way. Be it health, finances, or relationships, you want this year to be better than last year. For the most part I think we know what to do; the hard part is actually sticking to the changes. 97% of people fail to stick to their resolutions. Want to be part of the 3% to succeed? Do these 4 things:

1. Purpose – Whatever your goal is for the New Year, why do you want to attain it? Let’s say two people decide to quit smoking. John decides to quit smoking because he knows it is unhealthy and it’s the smart thing to do. Mary decides to quit smoking because she wants to be a better role model for her kids. She wants to be able to breathe better, have more energy, and be able to play with her family. Mary doesn’t want to waste money on cigarettes that could be spent on making her family’s lives better. Mary’s purpose is greater than herself. When your purpose is greater than you, you will have a much higher level of success. Write down the most important person, thing, or aspect in your life. Then write down all the ways achieving your resolution will improve whatever it is you love the most. The Greater Your Cause, The Greater Your Wealth/Health!
2. Always think Long Term – This will help every area of your life. We are such an immediate gratification society. We choose the few minutes of immediate pleasure gained by eating junk food and drinking sugary drinks instead of thinking about the long term pain of poor health, being overweight, having less energy, clothes no longer fitting, feeling embarrassed to go to the water park, etc. We make purchases on credit cards for items we really don’t need without thinking about paying interest on those cards in the future. The $80 pair of jeans ends up costing $120. We are still paying for them long after we’re tired of wearing them. The average American spends about 35% of their post-tax income on interest! I have worked with too many patients who are in chronic pain, overweight, low on energy, and not one has ever told me the poor choices made in the past were worth it. The worst part is their immediate gratification mindset has them asking me for a supplement or quick treatment that will make them feel better. The quick fix, short term thinking does not work; always think long term!  I already have visions of wrestling with my grandkids when I’m in my 70s. Here is a man still skiing almost daily at 95. That is where my health will be in my 90s. The decisions I make now will help me get there.
3. Write it Down – Whatever your goals are, write them down. Write them down in detail and write down your process for achieving them. The more detailed you are the better. Visualize everything you want to achieve and all the steps it will take to get there. Then write it all down. If weight loss is your goal, write down how many times you are going to exercise per week. Commit to that. Write down what foods you are going to eat. Write down and promise yourself what you are going to give up. Create a plan, write it, and review it regularly.
4. Tell People – I was recently talking to a friend who was telling me that he is thinking about starting a business. I asked him the details and he said he didn’t want to jinx it. This business won’t even get started much less succeed. If you keep things a secret there is no risk of feeling failure if it happens. Tell people your goals, post them on Facebook, then work to achieve them. Before opening my gyms I would tell people my plan and just about every person I talked to brought up only negatives: There’s too much competition, people won’t pay for it, you don’t need a gym to workout, etc. When you tell people you are going to do something, you are more likely to do it. Also, a great motivation for me is if people you talk to tell you that you can’t. The success will be that much more gratifying.

Bonus Money Saving Tip – This is something I have been doing for years. It is very simple yet extremely effective. This goes back to long term thinking and planning for the future. Open a new checking account. Set up a monthly draft from your current checking account to the new one. 10% of your earnings is ideal. Let’s just say it is $300. Every month $300 will automatically go from one checking account to the other. Don’t touch that money and let it grow. You will soon see you don’t miss that $300 you were spending elsewhere at all. The account will just keep growing. Every 3-6 months, increase the deposit another 10%. The account, and your wealth, will keep growing.  It was the money I saved using this technique I used to open my first fitness center. This only applies if you don’t have credit card debt, a car payment, or any other high interest debt. That should be paid off first.

About the Author: Eupraxia

My goal when writing is to take confusing or complicated information and make it easy to understand and apply. I have spent the last decade obsessively researching and teaching how to improve performance and longevity. Dr Czys