Part of the joy of the holiday season is getting gifts from others, however, sometimes an even better joy can come from the gifts you give yourself. A New Year’s resolution is a fantastic way to give yourself a gift that keeps on giving all year long, if you stick to it. In today’s blog, we’re going to talk about how you can learn to make better resolutions and stick to them in order to give yourself one of the greatest gifts of all: the feeling of a job well done. 

Make Your Resolutions Specific and Measurable

Part of accomplishing your goals is to set them properly. It’s really hard, even impossible to achieve a goal that has no clear definition or conclusion. For instance, you can’t just say that you want to “lose weight”. You have to set a specific number and timeframe to your goal. A better way to help you lose weight is to say you want to hit a certain bodyfat percentage by the six month mark, or be able to fit into a certain size of clothing. That way you have a clear, definable goal that you can measure your progress toward. 

The SMART framework: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound—remains one of the most effective goal-setting methods.

Use Implementation Intentions

This is a great way to build positive habits and fulfil your goals with intentionality. Start building if-then statements into how you go about accomplishing your goals. For example, if one of your goals is to “work out more” turn that into real action by saying “if it is Wednesday or Friday mornings at 6:30am, then I will be at the gym starting cardio warmups.” Build in specific if-then scenarios so that you can take realistic steps to accomplishing your goals. 

Create Environmental Support

Use your environment to help you make better decisions in the moment. For example, if you want to start eating more healthy foods, then take the unhealthy foods out of your pantry and replace them with fruits, vegetables, and healthy snacks so that you always have good options at the ready. The same is true if you want to read more books or cut down on screentime. Keep a book by your bed and in the bathroom to help you easily stay away from your phone. 

Track Your Progress Visually

A neat psychological trick to help you stay on track to accomplishing your goals is to track them visually as you reach milestones. Pick up a cheap whiteboard or large piece of posterboard and hang it on a wall somewhere you can see it each day. Keep track of your milestones and your end goal and use things like hash marks or checkmarks to show your progress. Each time you update the board it helps to reinforce the momentum you are building in your mind. You got this!

Conclusion

We hope that this article about New Year’s Resolutions was useful to you. If you want to make a purchase, schedule one of our window covering experts for a FREE estimate and more information by calling the office at 208-888-1056. If you have any questions about purchasing some awesome commercial blind or window covering work, or any other window covering related issue, we would love to hear from you. Contact us today to get started.