10 Ways to Stick to your 2015 Resolutions

Ahh, January. Its the one month a year that everyone I know is hopeful. Whether or not you believe in resolutions, goals, or solutions, I am betting that you made some kind of commitment to make something good happen for you in 2015. I like the idea of calling them my 2015 Goals, but that's just me. Call it what you want to call it, you're going to get better in 2015, right?

Now think back to Februaries past... did you still have that hopeful, goal-oriented attitude? I doubt it. I never used to. We set goals the first week of the year that more than half of us will give up on before month two begins.

I've decided to come up with 10 ways to help us kick some ass in 2015 by sticking to those big goals!!!

1. Write your goals down ON PAPER in the correct format. Goals should be SMART: ppecific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-oriented. That means if you want to get out of credit card debt you need to write down exactly how much you need to pay off and by when you'd like to do it. To make sure it is attainable, figure out what it equates to per month and make sure you can save enough to pay that each month! Example: Pay of $2,679 by September 1, 2015 by paying off $297.67 per month.

2. Now go hang that paper up somewhere where you will see it EVERY DAY. Bedroom mirror, the fridge, in your car. Hang it up for the whole household to see.

3. Identify two people these goals will impact and tell them what they are. This is a tip I learned from doing Chalene Johnson's 30 Day Push (which I HIGHLY recommend doing and its free at www.30daypush.com). Tell these people about your goals and why you want to accomplish them. Be sure to include how they will impact that person. You'll feel more accountable to them than anyone else.

4. Get an accountability partner. This can be one of your two people above, or someone else. I would say that the two people impacted by my goals are my husband and son but for accountability I like to use a girlfriend. You can get mad when your husband tells you to put down the Hershey bar. When a girlfriend tells you, you tend to listen.

5. Make a vision board.  I know you already wrote your goals down, but now I want you to find pictures to go along with them. Close your eyes and PICTURE what hitting them will FEEL like. What will your life look like? You can use a website or make a craft day out of it -- grab some old magazines and start snipping out pictures! You should hang this vision board up somewhere where you will see it. Mine is in my office.

6. Start doing personal development. Don't roll your eyes at me, either. Spend 10 minutes a day reading, watching, or listening to something that will make you better. If you a person of faith, listen to a sermon. If you love to read, read a leadership book or a self-help book. (I'm currently reading You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero. I highly recommend it.)

7. Schedule time to review your goals. The first weekend every month (or whatever time you decide on) you and your husband, wife, lover, or dog sit down and look at what you have accomplished over the past month. Ask yourself what you did well and what you can do better.

8. Put reminders of your goals EVERYWHERE. If you work in an office, put post-its up with the dollar amount of debt you want to pay off or the number of pounds you want to be. No one will know what 2,679 or 145 means if they see it on a sticker on your desk so don't be embarrassed. Just do it. If you stay home, put them on the fridge, in the bathroom, by the TV, etc. If you hate paper or post-its (you are obviously not type-a like me, the post-it lover), then make a graphic on your phone and make it your lock screen.

My visual weight loss goal reminder for the month

9. Break it down! Some people like to call this reverse engineering. It's better to give an example than to try to explain SO let's say you want to lose 30 pounds this year. Figure out how many pounds that is per month (30 pounds/12 months = 2.5 pounds per month) and per week (30 pounds/52 weeks = 0.6 pounds per week). Now you have something to grasp in the short-term that helps you get to the big, long-term goals.

10. Reward yourself! When you hit that monthly goal of 2.5 pounds, or $200 of credit card debt, or whatever your short-term goals are, decide on a reward! Here's a tip in a tip... if you are trying to lose weight, make the reward fitness related (new yoga pants!!) not food related. Likewise, if paying off debt is a goal, I would make the reward something that doesn't involve acquiring more debt.

You CAN do this. You are perfectly capable of reaching big goals and doing big things. I hope these tips help you stick to it this year so that 2015 will always be there year you finally DID IT (whatever your it may be!)!!!!

Happy New Year!!!

xo,

C