By now, some of those New Year’s Resolutions that seemed so definite may be starting to feel a bit shaky. Are you thinking that you just can’t do it or that you just want to give up? It’s time to do something to bring those Resolutions back to life. When it comes to Resolutions, the same ones seem to come up on different people’s lists. Things like Get Fit, Lose Weight, Quit Smoking, Stop Drinking, Enjoy Life More, Reduce Stress seem to make their way onto almost everyone’s top ten New Year’s Resolutions list. For some people, they work their way up the resolution list year after year after year.

This is the year to make resolutions work. The first thing is to understand the psychology of failed Resolutions. Make resolutions like getting fit and losing weight. The problem with these, and most Resolutions, is that they are like someone asking you to shoot and hit a target that is “somewhere over there”. The only way to hit the target is if someone points it out to you and says, “Hit the target right there.” How much weight are you going to lose? What does aptitude mean? You are doomed to defeat unless you make Resolutions more defined and, in business jargon, measurable. Why? Because you tend to say to yourself, “I’m not in shape yet.” or “I still need to lose weight.” Think what that means. They are very negative messages that you give yourself and you begin to experience daily losses. Day after day those defeats accumulate and before long you feel totally defeated in your Resolve and just give up. The problem was not you, the problem was that you simply did not make reasonable Resolutions.

Clearly refined resolutions

There are four things you can do with your top ten Resolutions to start working for you instead of against you. First, reduce your immediate Resolve to just two or three things and take those lofty, broad goal Resolves to the level where you can definitely say you’ve met them or not. So, Lose Weight could become “Lose 30 Pounds” and Get Fit could become “Get Rid of My Back Pain.” These are very concrete things that you can easily evaluate if you achieve them. Converts High Resolutions to Fine Resolutions.

Small Achievable Resolutions

The second thing you need to do is create micro Resolutions from each of the main refined Resolutions you just made. To do this, you need to know how to actually achieve your Resolution. It’s easy to say “Lose 30 pounds,” but to really do it you have to know what to do. You have to know that, in general, fad diets do not work in the long term. Even the TV special, Buy Our Food Diets really stops working as soon as you go back to your old eating habits. Do your homework and find out what really works to help you achieve your goal. There is a lot of information and misinformation on the Internet, and that means you should read carefully. Always evaluate the information that is provided in conjunction with the sale of something like a diet or exercise program. As an example, Losing 30 Pounds could be boiled down to the following weekly micro-Resolutions

1. Do your research and find a weight loss program.

2. Read about blood glucose and weight control using blood glucose monitoring.

3. Get 5 easy recipes that are blood glucose friendly.

4. Find out the servings for each recipe that will allow you to lose weight and shop for the correct ingredients.

5. Eat 50% of my meals on those diets and portions, and avoid sugary snacks.

6. Eat so that 80% of my meals are adequate for glucose and the correct portions, and avoid snacks with sugar and carbohydrates.

7. Lose 2 pounds this week.

8. Lose 2 pounds this week.

9.etc

These micro Resolutions are easy to achieve from week to week. You should make micro Resolutions easy to achieve instead of striving for quick results. The simple fact in many facets of life is that extraordinary results are not achieved by quick and extraordinary efforts, but rather by small efforts made consistently over time.

Similarly, getting rid of lower back pain could turn into the following micro Resolutions

1. Find easy home exercises for lower back pain that you can do.

2. Find out what low back pain treatments are medically available.

3. Do the exercises for back pain 3 days a week.

4. Seek medical treatment for back pain.

When it comes to personal change, make sure the solutions you find are easy to do. You need easy dietary solutions, not complicated ones. You need easy physical movements, not things that are impossible for you to do.

law of attraction

Many people who set goals, objectives, and tasks in business project planning will recognize the approach just described. Frankly, so far resolutions, fine resolutions and micro resolutions are pretty much the same thing. However, the third thing to do takes a dramatic shift from business project management because it moves towards the more esoteric teaching of the Law of Attraction as taught by Charles F. Haanel. The third thing to do is to visualize yourself as having put your refined Resolutions and micro Resolutions into the day. Visualize in your mind what it will be like to be 30 pounds lighter. Visualize what it will be like to know how to eat a diet compatible with the glycemic index. Do it every day for a few minutes and you will see amazing results. Good visualization is the key to harnessing the incredible power of the unconscious mind. The more clearly you see yourself achieving the Resolutions you have set for yourself, the more likely you are to keep them. Five to ten minutes a day is all you need.

Responsibility

Finally, the fourth thing to do is to forget about the language of Resolutions, objectives, goals and tasks. They are very weak when it comes to personal changes. The word you should use is commitments. Think about it. Do you feel more comfortable not achieving a task or Commitment? How about you make that Commitment to someone who is really important to you…that you want to please? Take the micro Resolutions and turn them into written commitments that you make to someone like your spouse. Each week, take a few minutes to review your progress on those Commitments with the person you made them to. And be sure to help them understand what you’re doing and ask them to commit to helping you. All of that will introduce accountability into your micro Resolutions, and accountability will be at a significant level. If you can make Commitments to more than one person, that will amplify your success.

Resume

You can turn those fading Resolutions into major changes in your life by simply following these four simple steps. Refine your resolutions. Make micro Resolutions. Visualize your success. Make commitments to the people you care about. This approach will work for any life change you want to make, not just New Year’s Resolutions.