by Mary Lake

Created on: January 08, 2009   Last Updated: October 29, 2010

The start of the New Year is the perfect time to make a resolution, after all everyone has something that they want to change and make better. It sounds easy and everyone makes New Years resolutions ever year, but is it really a good idea? After only being a few days, a week, or a month into the New Year most of us have already started to slide on our New Year resolutions. But you want to keep your resolutions, want to make them work, and you want to make effective changes in your life. So how do you make your New Year resolutions work for you?

For most of us resolutions do not stick. Think back for a moment and try and recall all the resolutions you made in your life, and how many actually succeeded. It is rare that resolutions effectively change lives and last a whole year. Now think about the word "goal." How many goals have you set in your life, and how many were successful? I am willing to bet a lot more goals were met than resolutions. So change your wording and your thinking it is no longer a New Year's Resolution, it is a New Year Goal.

Now you need to ask yourself if your New Year goal is actually attainable. I mean is it really attainable? If you set an unrealistic goal you are setting yourself up for failure because you will feel like you can not make progress. For example, you decide you want to start an online business for the New Year that will replace your current job. Now this goal is attainable, but it is going to take a whole lot longer than one year to actually meet your goal. And while you are working on this project you will not see any progress if you are focused only on your goal. Instead, set this as a long term goal to be met several years in the future.

If the goal you set as your resolution is really a long term goal, it is time to divide it up into mini-goals. You won't be able to replace your job with your online business in a year, but it can generate some income for you. So your mini goal could be to have your new business generate $100 a month. And make sure to reward yourself for any positive steps and progress you make for example nothing will feel better than when you make your first sale. Once that happens reward yourself for all the hard work you have put in.

Now that you have your mini-goals for your resolution, it is time to make a plan. Examine your goal and figure out what steps you need to take to get there. Without a plan you have no idea how you are going to accomplish all that you want to execute. Figuring out how to get things done is as important as the resolution or goal itself. Once your plan is made it is time to fit it into your daily routine. If resolution becomes part of your daily routine you are less likely to forget about it or abandon it. It will be difficult at first, but eventually the changes you made will feel like they have always been there.

Finally, and most importantly, you need to ban the excuses. There is always a reason as to why the New Year Resolution didn't work, and why this resolution will be different. Loose the excuses and don't let yourself off the hook so easily! Instead look at the real reason why your goal or resolution isn't working. Is it because you are trying to do too much, are you doing too much too soon, is your plan to execute your resolution not effective, are you not being patient, or are you not putting in the effort? Remember, you are the one who determines the success of your New Year's resolution!

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