Set and Achieve Your 2017 New Year Resolutions Guide
First of all, happy new year!
I'm so excited for this new year! I feel like 2017 will be awesome! Even better than 2016, much better actually! I loved last year (2016). I feel like it was one of the best years of my life, maybe the best that I can remember. This may sounds cliché, but I learnt so much! More than I ever did in past years!
I read so many awesome books, I learnt so many new insights, I tried and made a lot of mistakes that taught me valuable lessons. And I'm really grateful for everything I am and have! Finally, I had decided to create my website, something that I wanted for a long time. And 2016 was the year that happened. I had the courage to do what my heart demanded. I'm loving this!
I love to write new articles for everyone who is interesting in increasing their productivity, taking their lives to the next level. It's really important to me to help you, and I'm loving this experience in general!
I had similar experiences to this one, like creating a blog about fashion, other about travelling, other about books. I don't regret creating those blogs in the past. But I feel like this time, my purpose is completely different. It's not only sharing my day, the outfit I wear, or the place I travelled to.
Instead, it is sharing everything I've been learning that completely changed my life! It's not only my journey becoming more productive each day, but also my journey helping you accomplish more of what you want! And that's why this is being the most valuable and exciting experience of all time!
For some reason, I feel like this is MY thing! Where I can share everything about productivity that I know is life-changing, where I try different new methods and techniques to be 1% better each day, but to also share experiences about my aspiring business and what I'm constantly learning.
Most of my closest friends, aren't really into this productive lifestyle, trying to level up their lives every day. And that was one of the reasons that made me create this blog/website. To share my tips with people who are really interested in increasing their productivity and achieving their goals!
At the same time, I'm sharing my knowledge, I'm sharing my experience, my productivity experiments and things that are actually making me excited lately!
I feel like this is amazing, to be here talking to you. I feel that 2017 will be even better than all of this! I'm working even harder, improving my life, my blog, my business, etc. The key is to make progress every single day. Even if it's the smallest progress you can imagine, it is better than stopping. Because you will only reach your goals if you keep moving!
BE CONSISTENT! Consistency brings progress! Progress brings results! Results bring success! And success brings happiness. And happiness is not only reaching your main goal, or being completely successful. For me, happiness is the whole journey. The journey of reaching new and small steps, that will guide me into my main goal. The process is so exciting to me that I'm always happy with my progress! Because I know that progress will lead me to the results I want.
Don't fool yourself, it won't be easy. But the most important thing is to love the road that will take you where you want. The key is to enjoy what you're doing. And even when you get where you want, you will always want more! That's not a bad thing. It's awesome to always want more, better and bigger. All humans are that way. It's pretty good. But that doesn't mean you should be unhappy.
It means you need to be happy with your progress because it's progress! And progress always takes you somewhere. But you need to enjoy doing those little things. You actually need to be in love with your journey and to be so focused on what you want to achieve that you can't see anything more.
If you don't feel that way about your goal, then stop. Stop and rethink if that's what you really want for your life. How do you know your new year's goal is right for you? Easy! If your goal is what you really want, you will know it! You will feel excited to think about it! Excited to wake up in the morning to work towards your resolution. You will feel excited about anything that gives you the smallest progress. But you know that even the smallest progress will keep your goal closer. That's when you know you're on the right track! Excitement! That's what is happening with me!
I feel so excited about my blog, that sometimes it is difficult to think about anything else that I must do. Like school working, chores, even going out with my friends. Because I'm obsessed with what I want to achieve. I'm obsessed with creating new things, with sharing with you new techniques, tips, tricks, ANYTHING that will bring you results just like it is bringing me too!
The process of getting things done to keep me one step closer to my main goal makes me really happy. And that's why I HATE wasting time with things I know aren't according to my goals. That's why I hate to waste time doing things that don't make me happy.
Some people may call me a workaholic, because for me, one day without doing anything useful, is a waste of a day. I always love school holidays, but not staying on the sofa all day long, watching TV. But because I have much more time to work on what I love! If doing what you love and working on it, is being a workaholic, then yes! I'm a workaholic and I love being one!
My main goal is to help you while sharing my knowledge and the things I continue to learn every day. By reading books, listening to podcasts, watching courses, and my favourite of all, through my own experience! Experiment with different techniques to see if they work or not!
I'm going to stop with the "blah blah blah" and start focusing on the main point of this post, giving you my 2017 New Year Resolutions Guide to Set and Achieve your goals!
Thinking about last year is something that I enjoy doing. The things that went well, what went pretty bad, but especially thinking about what I really want to change this new year.
Mistakes when setting Net Year Resolutions:
They don't write them down - They think it is enough to actually think of 1 or 2 things they want to improve this new year, and that's it. Do they bother writing those resolutions? No.
They "kinda" want to create new habits - Yup, the "kinda" problem. "I kinda want to go to the gym", "I kinda want to lose weight", "I kinda want to start a business", "I kinda want a new job", "I kinda want to read more books". This is a real problem! And "kinda" is the same as "could"."I could go to the gym", "I could be a morning person", "I could lose weight"... Honestly, nor "could", nor "kinda" are enough if you are really committed to achieving your goals!
But how can you actually plan and accomplish your goals? I've got you covered!
2017 New Year Resolutions guide to Set and Achieve your Goals:
#1: MUST instead of COULD
STOP WITH THE COULDs! No more kinda's, no more could's. No more excuses this year!More MUST's. Makes this word your favourite, the one that you will be using the most. Instead of thinking of 10 "kinda" new years resolutions, think of 1 or 2 must's! You must be focusing on what you really want and that's the most important thing if you want to accomplish a new resolution.
Take a piece of paper and instead of writing "I could start a blog this year", or "I kinda want to lose weight", write "I MUST start a blog [your goal for this new year] about creating a podcast [more details about your goal]".Or "I MUST lose weight [your goal for 2017], more specifically I want to lose 15 lbs [more details about your goal]".It's really important to be specific when defining new goals, because it will keep you motivated. If you only said "I want to lose weight", you could be losing 1 lb, or 30 lbs.
#2: Why do you want to accomplish that goal?
Here's the one million dollar question you're going to ask yourself. Why? Why do you want to lose 15 lbs? It's because your health isn't great? Don't you feel proud of your body? Don't you feel good about yourself? Are you overweight?
It's important to specify your goals. But it is even more important to know why you're choosing them. Why are you interested in improving that area in your life?
By now, you should have written down your main goal for this year and the reason why you want to accomplish that goal (short sentence).
#3: What do you want?
This is the time to get inspired and think of all the positive things you will get when you achieve your goal. What would you gain from it? You can specify benefits like: more confidence, more happiness, more income, more life stability, better relationships, more trust, etc.
How would your life be? Would you feel happier? How so? Would you benefit other people? Where would you be? With who? With what (objects, materials, etc)?
Be creative and be really really really specific! Then read what you just wrote aloud. If you don't feel excited about the results you must get, rethink your goal!
#4: Where are you right now in terms of your goal?
This is where you need to specify your situation right now. It's really important to know exactly where you are. Let's continue to use the example of losing 15 lbs.
Where are you now in terms of your weight? What are the rituals you have related with your wealth? Do you practise exercise? How frequently? What do you eat?
This could have been the answer: I'm now with 190 lbs (also consider body measuring). I eat fast food 3 to 4 times a week, and I only eat fish on Mondays and Fridays. Once a week I make exercise at home, for approximately 30 minutes. I have been to the gym in the past. I gave up because I couldn't seem to force myself getting out of bed and moving my butt to the gym.
You can be even more specific, by keeping a record of all your meals for one week or the exercises you make during your workout session.
I don't want to keep this post a losing weight guide, but it has been proved that most people choose to lose weight as a new year's resolution. That's why I'm using it as an example. It's really important to know what situation you are in right now, so you can improve and change!
#5: What could you start doing to get what you really want? How would your day be like?
This is honestly my favourite part! Because it is where I can review my old routine and create a new one. You need to be sure the new routine you created will help achieve the goal you established. Tell me, is your goal making you excited? That's what you really want, right?
So, get up and start doing something to accomplish that goal! If that means you need to start waking up at 5 a.m, go ahead! Maybe you will need to cancel your Friday night plans sometimes, but if that's what it takes to achieve your goals you will do it! Because you're completely obsessed with it. And you know that if you follow the ritual you just created, you will get there! You will get where you want to be! It only takes one small step to start, and a sequence of more steps to continue making progress!
Are you really letting yourself give up on something you really want? I hope not! This year will be your year! If you're only focused on your goal, the rest will just be the rest. And nothing will stop you from achieving what you want!
Summary
Simplifying all the steps for you, here's what you should answer and write down, to finally accomplish your new year's resolutions this year!
What's your goal?
Why do you want to achieve that goal? (short answer)
What do you want? (very specific)
Where are you right now? (what are your rituals right now related to your goal)
What could you start doing to achieve your goal? (create your new routine and IMPLEMENT IT)
Again, it is really important to write the answers on a piece of paper to actually keep them more real and visible. Even though I use different apps to organise my day, I can't describe how much I actually like to write stuff in a notebook. Set your mindset to success, and make 2017 the best year of your life by following this 2017 New Year Resolutions guide!