If you’re a regular at the gym, you know how packed it gets the first couple weeks of January. You also know that by February the vast majority of the new gym-goers will be gone, and by summer the gym will most certainly be back to the regular crew!
The gym is a great visual example of what happens to a lot of people’s New Year’s resolutions. The reality is that creating a vision for the new year requires a lot more than some loose resolutions that are likely to be forgotten when life gets “lifey” or abandoned when the results we’re looking for just aren’t happening.
If you’re wondering how to stick to New Year’s resolutions and set goals that actually last, one of the most important places to start is getting clear on what you actually want. From there, you need realistic action steps and a way to keep checking in on your progress long after the motivation of January wears off.
My clients enjoy the accountability of our regular sessions, the action steps they have after each session and learning how to move toward what they want without feeling like they constantly have to do the most. Actually taking the space to write your goals down and check in on your progress regularly can make a huge difference when it comes to sticking to New Year’s resolutions. It seems so simple, but when we’re moving from one thing to the next in our usual routines, it’s easy to get sucked back into our comfort zones and forget what it is we really want.
Get Clear on What You Actually Want
As a Dallas Life Coach coaching clients across the country since 2019, I’ve noticed some common things that can get in the way when it comes to New Year’s resolutions, goal setting and figuring out what you actually want. Sometimes the problem isn’t that you aren’t capable of accomplishing the goal. You may not actually be clear on which goal is yours in the first place.
Some common patterns include:
- Feeling disconnected from who you really are and what you want
- Focusing more on what you don’t want than getting clear on what you do want
- People pleasing and making decisions based on other people’s expectations
- Second-guessing yourself or believing you aren’t capable of making the change you want
Check in with yourself and be honest about how these patterns might be showing up in your life. Are the goals you’re setting based on what YOU genuinely want, or are they based on what you think you’re supposed to want?
If you don’t know who you are and what matters to you, it becomes really difficult to know what you want next. Getting clear on that gives you a much stronger foundation for setting goals you’ll actually care about long after January is over.
Turn Your New Year’s Resolutions Into an Action Plan
Once you’re clear on what you want, the next step is figuring out what moving toward it actually looks like. A resolution like “I want to be happier,” “I want a better career” or “I want to feel more confident” might point you in the right direction, but it’s difficult to follow through when you haven’t identified what that means in your actual life.
This is where getting specific and creating realistic action steps matters. Depending on what you want, that might mean getting clarity when you feel stuck, creating an action plan for a career change, identifying what you want in your relationships, building your self-confidence or finally taking the first step toward something you’ve been thinking about for years.
You don’t have to figure out the entire path before you start. You just need enough clarity to identify the next step and enough self-trust to actually take it.
Why Accountability Helps You Stick to Your Goals
One of the reasons New Year’s resolutions can disappear so quickly is because regular life takes over. Work gets busy, schedules fill up, something unexpected happens and suddenly the thing that felt incredibly important on January 1 hasn’t crossed your mind in three weeks.
Having a regular place to check in on what you said you wanted can help you stay connected to the bigger picture. In coaching, we can look at what’s working, what isn’t working, what you’ve accomplished and what may be getting in the way. We can also adjust the plan as you get new information and become clearer about what you actually want.
And this part is especially important for high achievers: don’t discount the progress you’re making just because you haven’t reached the final goal yet. It’s incredibly easy to accomplish something that would have felt HUGE six months ago and immediately move the goalpost. Your progress counts, and recognizing it can help you keep moving.
Make This the Year You Actually Follow Through
Even if your life has felt like Groundhog Day for years, things can change. Whether you want a new job, a healthier romantic relationship, to start a business, more confidence, better habits or you simply want to finally figure out what’s next, you don’t have to have the entire answer today.
The next best step isn’t really coming up with a resolution, it’s giving yourself enough space to figure out what you actually want, creating a realistic plan for getting there and continuing to show up for it after the New Year motivation disappears.
If you’re ready to get clear on what you want and start taking action toward it, apply for a complimentary consultation. You can live anywhere in the U.S. and coach with me virtually. 🙌
