How many times have you set a New Year’s resolution only to watch it disappear into the melting snow? If your New Year’s Resolution does not plant itself firmly into your everyday life, like an ice pick into Everest, you can expect your exercise equipment to be collecting dust by February. Each year many of us try to tackle some of our biggest obstacles by committing ourselves to another New Year’s Resolution. Maybe its time to add more exercise, finally organize your home office, lose the 20 pounds from the holidays, or make more time for family. Following these simple steps will make your resolutions really stick.

1) Make a Plan

As tedious as it may seem to sit down and make a plan, experts agree that those with a plan will actually find more success and save significant more time. Here are a few things to think about when making your plan.
• Think about in an ideal world, what would this New Year look like for you? Imagine and visualize how you will be successful and what it will look like when you get there.
• Consider where you have had success in the past and how you could apply it to your resolutions this year.
• Take a look at where you may be challenged and consider how to handle these issues if they arise again.
• Decide where you want to be in a year from now and then break it down into small achievable steps. What will you do each month, week, and day to get you to your desired outcome?
• Write down your plan in a place you will look at often. Dedicate a journal or place in your day planner.

2) Look at Your Motives: What is Your Why?

Many people fail to complete their resolutions because they have forgotten to ask themselves, why? Why do I want to quit smoking? Why do I want to eat healthier and exercise more? Why do I want to spend more time with my children? Without a strong enough why, and a why that has personal meaning, it will most likely end in failure. Have you decided to make this change because everyone tells you that you should, or is it because this is something you really want?

3) Set a Reasonable Goal

Once you have your goals, and your why, it is important to double check and make sure you have been realistic. Maybe you want to exercise 30 minutes everyday, stop drinking soda, or lose 50 pounds by spring. A realistic goal is one that feels honestly achievable to you. A more practical goal might be to focus on smaller steps to begin shedding the pounds, maybe more like a pound a week. Or rather than stopping soda intake all together, maybe you allow yourself one a day. You don’t want to set yourself up for failure by attempting something that seems impossible.

4) Create Minimum and Maximum Targets

Another important aspect of setting reasonable goals, is to create minimum and maximum targets. Too often we set one large goal for ourselves, instead of maximum and minimum targets. This quickly sets us up for failure. If we miss our “big goal” that can easily take the momentum out of our stride and we will quickly give up. For example, a minimum target might be exercising two times a week and a maximum of six times a week.

5) Track Your Progress

As you begin this journey, figure out a way to track your progress. Dedicate a journal or notebook to write down your goals and accomplishments. If that feels too complicated, simply write down your daily or weekly steps in your calendar. By writing down your progress, you will gain more confidence, begin to see patterns in your choices, and smile at your success. Next, take a look at the patterns so you can adjust your system based on your ideal goals and what is actually happening.

6) Create a Support System

Making sure that you have a solid and positive support system in place can increase the likelihood your resolution will succeed. Friends can provide a great structure to help you achieve your goals. For instance, if you were going to go to the gym, wouldn’t you be more likely to go if you knew that your friend was waiting for you there? Similarly, make sure you surround yourself with people who want to see you succeed. It’s hard to make progress if people near you doubt your success.

7) Celebrate

Celebrate? This may seem new to many people, but it is important to think about how you will celebrate the little and the big milestones along your journey. This will give you the extra boost you need to keep moving forward toward your goals. Ask yourself, how will you celebrate if you lose 5 pounds by Valentines? Or reduce your smoking in half? Would you buy one new outfit? Go to a movie? Buy a new cd? Go out for a nice dinner? Celebrations can really give you that extra piece of encouragement to keep you going when things get difficult.

Now that you know some of the key steps to make your resolutions really stick, make sure you integrate this plan into your daily life and use the seven steps so you can turn your Mount Everest like goals into a manageable mole hill.

Carrie Silver
Writes for http://www.justgottadoit.com