New Year's Resolutions that Last: Success for 2012

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by: Judith
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Word Count: 2425
Date: Thu, 19 Jan 2012 Time: 2:25 AM

When it comes to New Year's resolutions, thousands of people make the same few commitments each year. You probably know dozens of people who will resolve to lose weight or pay off debt in the coming year. You also know many who will not reach success with their resolutions. One of the reasons commitments fall by the wayside before Valentine's Day is people make sweeping statements and set goals that are vague, unrealistic or impersonal. The best New Year's resolutions are about personal growth, not generic success. Here are some tips for setting a reachable, long-lasting goal for 2012.

Make it Meaningful

You must know what your goal means for you. Why do you want to lose weight, pay off debt, be more organized or get a better job? Most people want to do these things to better themselves and their lives. Instead of a one-size-fits-all resolution, make yours about building a stronger character. Personal growth will help you achieve things like weight loss.

Provide Definition

Vague tasks cannot be accomplished. If you tell a three year old to make their room look nice, they might toss toys around and decorate the walls with crayon. You have to specify that by nice, you mean putting all the toys away. Be specific with your goals and keep them within your control. A New Year's resolution that requires action from someone else is doomed to failure. Here are some specific types of personal growth goals you can have success with:

Every month, I will follow through with at least one task to make my life more organized.
Every week, I will eat a healthy salad at least three times for lunch instead of fast food.
Every day, I will make it a point to say something nice to someone else at least one time.
Every night, I will write down one accomplishment for the day and one thing I could have done better.

These are smaller resolutions with exact definitions, but they work toward an overall positive result.

Be Realistic but Challenging

A resolution to pay off $40,000 of credit card debt in a single year seems like a great goal, but it may be impossible to keep. For several months, you might live in misery trying to meet your goal. Once you stop trying, you continue the year with guilt because you failed. A better goal would be to reduce debt by 15% for the year while not using credit cards to pay for anything in 2012. Not only is this goal reachable, it supports personal growth as it relies on a realistic ability to budget and make timely payments.

New Year's resolutions are about promoting success in your overall life. You should grow year to year, not hobble yourself with unattainable goals and guilt throughout the months. Make it personal, make it specific and make it realistic.

About the Author

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