Going Beyond Resolutions

This time of year is a wonderful time to evaluate, to reflect over the past year and make plans for changes in habits and routines. They are frequently termed resolutions. I believe it's a good ritual to perform at least once a year, to reflect on what is working and what is not. This is a routine successful individual's perform more frequently than yearly, preferably monthly or quarterly.

There are a numerous books, articles, and websites providing sources and tips on setting up resolutions. Many offer very good and excellent suggestions but they often fall short in covering a plan of action for long-term improvement. The core of long-term improvement and success in life is creating better long-term successful habits.

After reading this article, you can use the insights others suggest combined with these action steps to make positive lasting changes in your life.

First- Be committed. Commit yourself to improving by writing out exactly what you want to achieve over the next 30, 60 and 90 days and why it is important to you. This creates clarity and makes it difficult for you to dismiss a commitment to yourself.

Second- Start small. Focus on making small changes that lead to bigger ones. An example of this would be if your goal were to introduce yourself to people at parties or social events with ease, start by attending events with the goal of introducing yourself to one to two people. Once you are proficient at it, then up your goal to three to five people, then five to ten and so on.

Third- Keep It Simple. Complex rules complicate things and make it hard to change. In the example above, if you made the goal to introduce yourself to fifteen people out of whom five must have blond hair and blue eyes or must be at least the same height as you; you have set yourself up for failure. By keeping it simple--introducing yourself and starting a conversation--you will be relaxed and have fun, at the same time making changes.

Fourth- Get help. Help comes in many forms. One is to ask your friends how they respond to a situation. Ask them how they act and respond in a specific situation. Another is to join clubs that interest you or social networks that have events, articles and written materials on specific topics that can help you.

Fifth- Follow up. Have a series of checkpoints to track your progress; rule of thumb is weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually. Mark them on your calendar and reward yourself for any progress you make.

Now you have a system for acting on the insights of other articles and materials. Taking action is important. You do this by being committed, making small steps, not complicating things, seeking assistance and having checkpoints in place to track your progress.

Put these action steps to use, and you can make positive habit changes in your life.

Comments? Questions? Email Here

© HowtoAdvice.com