New Year's Resolution 2018: 7 Tips To Make It Stick

Chan Crawford
Dec 29, 2017
5 min read

Here we go again...

It happens every year right? ...We set a New Year’s Resolution.

We tell our friends and family about it.

We proclaim it all over social media.

We get started.

We boast about our newly found discipline.

We see a little bit of change happening…

And then… after a few weeks, we slowly start to fall back into our old ways.

We find our comfortable routines again.

AND here we are. At the end of the year, making a resolution to make it stick this time.

I know. I’ve been there…The most common one for us Americans is that good ol’ weight loss goal. We are gonna’ start exercising, and eating healthy. Others try for personal development. Stop gossiping. Stop having so many drunken nights. Stop going on dates with people YOU KNOW will waste your time. I mean, all of these goals are good and dandy until they become lost hopes.

Q: Why is it that we continue to fail at following through on our resolutions, year after year?

A: Because change is never comfortable. It is often inconvenient, annoying, or plain hard.

So what do we do about this, guys? Cuz’ surely you don’t wanna’ go another year hiding your frame at the beach, waking up in random people’s beds, or going on useless dates because you couldn’t stick out your New Year’s resolution. Maybe you want to slow down your gray hair growth because your kids are driving you nuts, or your boss is stressing you out.

THE SECRET

The secret is…MAKE YOUR LIFE AS FAIL PROOF AS POSSIBLE. In other words, set yourself up for success. Make plans for the laziest person in the world to follow. If you were trying to teach them how NOT to do something. What’s the easiest way to get them to change.

#1 GET LAZY

I know it sounds counertproductive. Surely, change is more work? ...But that’s just it. It really doesn't have to be. In order to make the transition as painless as possible, you must make every single step of the process AS EASY AS POSSIBLE TO COMPLETE.

Work smarter, not harder.

Want to start going to the gym every morning? Set your alarm clock across the hall, and put your gym clothes right next to the alarm, and maybe even a cup of coffee, if you need it. Place an energy drink in the window pane, or on the night stand to get you up and out the door. If that’s what you gotta’ do my friend, then so be it! Sleep in your gym clothes if you have to, so you have less to do in the morning….less of an excuse to turn away from your new plan.

#2 ELIMINATE THE OPPORTUNITY FOR EXCUSES

If you workout after work, pack your car with 5 shirts, 5 underwear, 5 pants, 5 sock, and 5 bras (if applicable) ON MONDAY. Now you don’t have to remember to get your gym clothes on the way out the door. Congratulations...Excuses that you forgot your clothes are now nonexistent. Change into your gym clothes before you even leave the office, so you won’t feel the pull to go home and take a nap first…and never get back out the house. No, no, no. No more of that, my friend.

#3 OUT OF SIGHT OUT OF MIND

Want to stop drinking as much? Let somebody else do the grocery shopping, so you don’t tempt yourself at the store to buy your favorite wine. Tell your friends to hold onto your credit card or your cash, when you go out, so that you can’t buy a drink. Don’t bring any in the house. Make it a reward system that you get to enjoy when you go so long without it, instead of an enemy you have to fight every time you go to the grocery store. If you know that one taste, or one exposure experience will send you back down the wrong road, then stay away from it, until you feel you are safe. Usually, that happens when you've replaced the old pleasure with an equally pleasurable thing. So until then, just avoid it. At all costs, if possible.

#4 EASY AS 123...

Those are just a few examples, but it really is as simple as this, folks. Make this change in your life as easy as you possibly can. Enlist other people to help you if you need to. Go into this change knowing that you might have to take baby steps at first, but as long as you keep stepping, you will reach your goal. Too many people think they are going to go from never working out, to a gym buff in 2 weeks. Then when they overwhelm their bodies with hard core workouts that are meant for long-time gym goers, they wonder why they despise the gym so much, and want to quit right away.

#5 REWARD VS. CHALLENGE

Change is difficult, let’s keep it real. If it was easy, we would all be making changes galore. There are so many things that we all could change TODAY that would make our lives so much easier, much more enjoyable, and overall better for us…but we don’t do it. Why?

Because it isn’t easy, and nobody wants to willingly put themselves through difficulty for any reason. Unless they find the reward far greater than the challenge, motivation is usually slim to non-existent.

If the folks on X-Factor only won $20 to eat rattlesnakes and roaches, do you think they would still be on the show? No. The reward must far outweigh the challenge for it to be worth it. Nobody will endure hardship unless it’s going to pay off in a way that is valuable to them. So keep this in mind when you decide to make a change. You have to find a way to make this reward-to-challenge ratio, a favorable one. One that will keep you motivated to keep going.

#6 IT’S A MARATHON, NOT A SPRINT

What does that mean for you? MAKE THE REWARD VALUABLE FOR YOU. In a way you can’t resist. If you have to entice yourself with a bet for money, a nail treatment, a massage, or a break from the kids…so be it. Make smaller goals along the way and reward yourself for your work thus far, and as an incentive to keep going. This is the key to lasting change.

#7 ACCEPT THAT IT WILL BE CHALLENGING AT FIRST

Lastly, remember that just because you don’t like it, and just because it’s uncomfortable does not mean you get to quit. Motivation may not be there in the beginning. Sheer willpower rarely motivates anyone to stick out a challenge. However, when you accept that making yourself do what you need to do, will actually create the motivation, you will find it much easier to create that momentum that forms a habit. You just have to get over the initial shock to the system. Your mind and body will always resist anything that appears difficult, but if you just push through for a bit, it will become easier, day-by-day. Motivation will come soon after, as you build confidence in yourself, that you can do this. You will start to see small results, and each accomplishment will motivate you to go forward. It's really that easy :-).

NEED MORE?

For further help, I’ve got a free mini-course on Changing Habits. Click this link to see if any of the modules could be of help to you. There might be that one thing that stops you every time, and this course can help you with it! Also, if you have any friends who might benefit from a little knowledge on making changes last, please share!

Otherwise my loves, I wish you the best on your New Year’s endeavors. May you see the change you wish to make in your life!

Love,