5 Tips for how to succeed in in Your New Year’s Resolutions in 2022.
Welcome to 2022!
Welcome to a New Year! The last couple of years sure have been tough, haven’t they? Are you optimistic about this year? I waiver back and forth between optimism and wondering if more of the same is to be expect in 2022.
I do love the idea of a new year, though. A fresh new start, brand new energy – 365 days of new possibilities in the form of 12 new chapters. I’m always excited to get my new planner all set up. I think about what I want for myself this year. But regardless of what is going on in the world, you CAN still work towards and achieve your goals for this year.
However, most people approach their resolutions with gusto and don’t really think beyond January – dry January, going sugar free, going on a diet, etc. We don’t really give enough thought to the whole year. It’s also why most people have abandoned their resolutions by February.
Here’s five tips for how to be smarter about your New Year’s Resolutions in 2022:
2022 New Year’s Resolutions
Just like any trip or journey, you must have your sights set on a destination. Where do you want to end up?
1. Set Your Destination for Your 2022 Goals
There’s two ways to go about setting your destination for 2022:
5-year Planning
The first option is to think about where you want to be in 5 years, and then work backwards into this initial year. I personally like this approach for a couple of reasons. One it ensures what you are working on this year is directly aligned to what is important to you in your life. Second, as someone who spent a lot of time in corporate America, most companies set a 5-year plan, as well as a more detailed current year plan as part of their strategic and financial planning. As a lifestyle entrepreneur, there’s a lot of overlap between my life and my business, so it makes sense to align my life planning and my business planning and start with 5 years and work backwards. (2025 is a milestone year for me in life, so it’s really a 4 year plan for me right now!)
Circle of Life
The second option is to assess the areas of your life and determine your level of satisfaction which area. This is a two-step process. To start, rate on a scale of 0 – 10 for each area (0 = unsatisfied and 10 = satisfied) of your life. Next, for each area, rate on the same scale of 0-10 for where you would like that area to be. It’s important to note, especially for my high achievers out there, that you don’t have to strive for 10 in all areas. Maybe you’d like to pursue something in your career or education, or your job is ok, you’re not totally satisfied, but you’re not unsatisfied either. Perhaps now is a time that you want to focus on your wellbeing, your self care, or some creative pursuits outside of work. So if your current satisfaction for career and education is 7. And that’s your goal for right now. No need for a 10. And you are already where you want to be.
In some cases, it could even work the other way. What if you are putting too much time, effort and energy in to your career or education and your relationships are suffering? Maybe you want to reinvest the time and energy from your career and education into your relationships. You could actually dial back the career to a 6 from the 10 you are currently at.
How do you arrive at your new years resolutions?
Again, just like trip, you have to plan how you are getting there, and when Now that you know where you want to be on 12/31/2022, let’s look at how you get there.
2. Prioritize Your 2022 Goals
Let’s just cut to the chase here – you can’t do it all. If you try, you are going to end up scattering your energy across goals and not really accomplishing what you want. In the wheel exercise of your life, there are 10 different aspects of your life. You may want to improve all 10, but again, that doesn’t focus your efforts and energy. So, you must prioritize what it is you will focus on in 2022. (That’s part of why there is a benefit to aligning to a 5-year plan). Focus on some things for 2022, nail those, and then in 2023, you can focus on other things, getting to your end goal.
In general you only want to really focus on 1-3 things for this year. More than that spreads your energy, focus and ultimately success, too thin.
So, what should you focus on? Only you can answer that. Maybe it’s something that has the biggest impact, so the level that has the biggest gap to address. Or the other way around, and you want a solid victory and so you focus on the one with the shortest gap to close. Perhaps something like self-care, which supports progress in multiple areas (relationships, joy, wellbeing, and career) all at the same time.
3. Break 2022 Goals into Quarters and Months
Next is to break those down into quarterly goals and then from there, into monthly goals. You can’t break your goal for 2022 all into 1 month or you will set yourself up for failure. Again, this is why so many resolutions fail and are abandoned by the end of January.
Let’s take weight loss as an example. Say you want to lose 25 lbs. Have you ever tried an extreme or restrictive diet promising fast results of 15 -or even 20 lbs. in the first few weeks? (I have). What happens? You can’t maintain it, and you fail, and gain the weight back.
But what if instead, you think about small, sustainable changes you can make? They may not result in much more than a half of pound of weight loss each week. But it will be easier to do from week to week, making it much more likely that you will ultimately get to your goal. Yes, it takes longer, and I am the first to acknowledge that can sometimes, suck. In this world, we want fast results and instant gratification. We get annoyed if our Amazon Prime delivery isn’t within 48 hours, right?
But, 25 lbs. of weight loss, divided by 4 quarters is 5-6 lbs. of weight loss a quarter. Doesn’t that feel much more doable and suddenly within reach? Now, let’s divide each quarter into its monthly goal. That’s only 2 lbs. a month. Or .5lbs a week. Small changes over time, add up to the results you want. Break the end goal down into quarters and then months.
4. Set SMART Goals
And then set the right kind of goals. You may have heard of SMART goals. The rationale behind them is that you manage what you measure. The more specific you can be with your goals the more you can focus on what you need to do. So SMART Goals are:
S – Specific
M – Measurable
A – Actionable
R – Reasonable
T – Timebound
Goals should be specific, measurable, and actionable. They need to be a stretch, but realistic and reasonable. In the weight loss example above, 25 lbs in a month, isn’t realistic, but 2 lbs. in a month is. A SMART goals statement may look like:
Lose 2lbs a month (specific, measurable, realistic and time bound) through portion control (actionable).
Now you know how you are going to get to where you want to be.
Course Correct Your Goals Throughout 2022
Getting to your destination isn’t without corrections along the way. A plane in route to its destination makes course corrections throughout the entire flight. It’s not off course, but constantly adjusts throughout the flight. You are just in the back unaware of all the corrections along the flight, never doubting you won’t get to where you are planning to. And when driving, if you make a wrong turn, GPS always reroutes you. So make course corrections along the way throughout 2022 as needed.
5. Plan for the Inevitable
You want to anchor in the habit through a ritual. Rituals are intentional behaviors that may lead to new habits when performed regularly. An easy way to think of rituals is reading your kids stories before bedtime. This starts out as a ritual, but over time becomes something you don’t even think about anymore.
Success requires willfully investing in new rituals that build new habits that support you in your ultimate goal. You see, will power alone isn’t enough. Only about 5% of our behaviors are driven by self-discipline and willpower. 95% of our behaviors are non-conscious and automatic, largely the result of previously established habits. Your success is largely dependent upon these behaviors of the subconscious, which is why change can be so difficult.
This forms the basis of habit stacking. Once you build one habit, you can layer or add on the next.
It also helps to have an accountability partner. An accountability partner is someone who will hold you accountable for committing to your ritual. And that’s what friends are for!
Building off the goal above, you can establish a ritual around the weight loss:
“I will plan to lose 2lbs a month through portion control. Portion control means I will eat spa portions 3 times a day, 5-6 days a week. Once a week, I will check in with Karin to share how I did this week.”
There will be setbacks along the way because that’s life. You can plan for this, by realizing it when it happens, and know that it doesn’t mean you have failed. It’s an opportunity to recommit to your goals, find out what derailed you and see how you can act differently next time it happens.
Bonus: Supercharge Your New Year’s Resolutions
Supercharge your results with visualization techniques. Visualization is powerful in achieving your goals. Studies show…
1. Vision Board
Create a visual depiction of your goals for 2022. You can do this via paper or electronically. Find images that depict represent your goals and desired state on 12/31/2022. It’s important that these images evoke a positive emotion from you when you see them. Cut and paste these images physically on paper, or electronically on a power point slide. Or just find pins and pin them to a Vision Board Board on Pinterest. Spend a few minutes throughout the day looking at the images, evoking the feeling of succeeding at these goals. This is one of my favorite activities to do with my new planner each year. I make a mini collage in my planner.
2. Visualization
You can spend a few minutes in meditation each day playing in your mind’s eye what life will look like when you achieve your goal. This is something top athletes actually do Get as specific as possible, what will you be wearing, who will be with you, and how will you look and feel, what will you be doing? For instance, if weight loss is your goal, can you see yourself standing on the scale when the scale finally reads the number you want? Or see yourself fitting back into that sexy date night outfit? Will you jump for joy when you see the number, or zip up those pants? Do you see yourself wearing a certain outfit to a special event like an upcoming wedding? Do you see yourself with more energy, keeping up after the kids, or doing a really challenging yoga pose? Bring these visions to life for a few minutes every day. For more on visualization techniques, click here.
Summary
There you have it. To stick to your resolutions and achieve your goals this year, despite all the uncertainty and craziness, treat them like a journey. Set your destination and figure out how you are going to get there. To do that, prioritize, break down into quarterly and then monthly goals, and lastly make them specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, and timely SMART). And plan for setbacks and know that you can course correct along the way. Lastly you can supercharge your results by working with a vision board and visualization meditation technique.
If you want some help in working on your goals, then learn more about how you can work with me, here.
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