Add this powerful ingredient to your New Year’s resolution
Avoid letting your resolution fizzle and die within moments of its creation again
Resolutions, intentions, goals, etc. are all words we use to create a change in the direction of our current status quo. You imagine something you desire in your life and set a direction towards it. Ideally, you believe in it so much that you start shifting your mindset and adapting new beliefs to align with your desired possibilities. You then (once again, ideally) follow through with your continual actions.
…but how often do you actually follow through with the goals you’ve set?
Most people quit before the end of January, and only a tiny percentage actually see their resolutions through.
As for me, I would love to be someone who could create and strongly stick to new habits on the first try like quick-drying super glue. I’ve created numerous visions and checklists. I’ve implemented various digital, physical, visual, and auditory strategies to help me solidify these new habits I’d love to partake in regularly and permanently. But after a while, I’d fizzle out as excuses and reasons stalled my momentum to a halt. I look at others and wonder, “How do they make it look so easy?! And why not me?” as I hang my head in disappointment, feeling like I’m back at square one.
Then I finally came across this ONE thing that made difference for me. I’ve checked off many of my goals, even loftier ones, in 2022 because I leveraged this one powerful ingredient to help make my freshly-established habits more “sticky”.
Add this one powerful ingredient to your habit setting process and notice how things start working better for you as well.
*drum roll* Here’s the game changer:
When you set your goals, include defining your why for wanting this new goal. What about it makes you want it bad enough that you’ll do anything it takes to make it your reality?
Hint: If you can’t think of a strong why you might need to approach this goal of yours in a different way or reconsider deep down if you actually want it.
When you’re driven by a deeper why, you’re more willing to keep going in the face of challenges, disappointments, and failures. Your why pushes you to go further beyond the potential thoughts of quitting. Your belief that what you desire can be within your reach is a powerful motivator to keep going.
Here’s one possible approach to uncover your deeper why:
Define your goal
Ask yourself why (why #1 is often a surface level reasoning).
Ask yourself what about that particular why is important to you (why #2).
Repeat this question “what about this is important to me?” three more times for why #3, #4, and #5.
Tada, you have discovered your deeper why. When you look at that answer, double check to see if you feel deeply driven by that answer of yours? (If no, keep asking the question or even look back to #3 or #4 to see if those resonate more. If yes, continue on.)
Look at your why #5 and your goal side by side. Jot down some bullet points as to how your goal relates to your deeper why.
When you set an action plan for your goals, keep your why in mind to make sure everything you’re planning is in alignment with your why. Also, why not write your why next to your goal, too? Keep them connected to strengthen your resolve.
This is exactly why I included a “Your Commitment & Declaration” section in my guided journal. It is intended to help you get clear about your particular why for creating your ideal relationship avatar. No one else can define that for you—your why or your avatar.
I can give you plenty of tips and strategies, but they’re all useless if you can’t muster up a strong enough why to take action. Knowledge becomes useless information without a method of application and implementation. Wisdom is the ability to know when and how to use that knowledge effectively.
So avoid letting your dreams die in the thought or ideation phase. Take your goals, fuel them with a strong why, and match them with intentional action.
Make 2023 a better year through being a better you!
P.S. Enjoyed this tip? Awesome, I have more resources you can check out:
➡️ Blog: “Choose your sacrifices or they choose you”
➡️ Blog: “7 before, during, and after strategies before creating new habits”
➡️ Set your relationship intentions by creating your ideal relationship avatar
➡️ Read Simon Sinek’s inspirational book “Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action” or watch his tl;dr 17:48-min TED talk on it.
P.P.S. Got any questions or feedback? Leave a comment below.
