January 1st, a fresh new start to a new year.  You reflect on the past year to see what all you accomplished, where your life is, successes, and goals you reached.  Maybe you even had a long list of New Year’s resolutions you made last year that is buried in your notes on your phone or written down in a half-used journal stashed in the back of your closet.  I am notorious for half-written in journals.   After looking back, you find not only that you are no where close to where you wanted to be, but you also did not reach even half of the goals for the year that you made for yourself.

You begin to wonder what the point of making resolutions is anyway, or you tell yourself you will try again this time around for the new year.  Either way, some sort of negative thought crosses your mind making yourself think that you are a failure.

Making new year’s resolutions and actually following through with them can be a daunting task.   A lot happens over the course of the year, and variables that are not under your control take place that keep you from reaching your goals.

I think one of the biggest problems we encounter when making new year’s resolutions is not the fact that the goals are necessarily out of reach, but rather we lose track or push that goal back into the back of our mind as the year progresses and things might get put on the back burner for a while until you later forget.  Or, you start of on the right track and then life happens, and excuses are made for why you aren’t reaching your goal.

Whatever the case, you would not have made the conscious decision to have that as a goal if you did not truly think it was a realistic one to meet.  Therefore, the plain and simple reason for not following through, is lack of commitment.  It is easy to want something very badly, but doing the actual work to achieve it is where most people fall through.  Or they simply don’t know how.

Of the eight new year’s resolutions I made for myself last year, the few that I did reach, I made almost a daily conscience effort to achieve them.  My focus was on 100%  achieving those goals for myself.  Also, they were specific, achievable, simple goals rather than long term goals that were easily forgotten about on the surface, or too big and lofty to even know how or where to begin.

One of my goals was to complete at least twelve paintings by the end of the year, or at least one painting a month.  I was completely committed to this because I wanted it badly.  I worked towards it by making it happen.  How?  I took a painting class that forced me to paint more.  I set up an Facebook page and Etsy shop with my work to share with others which encouraged more motivation for me to paint.  I surrounded myself with art for inspiration that energized me to want to keep painting, even if some did not turn out the way I envisioned.  I participated in a few art events.  I placed reminders all around me to show me what my goal was.  The couple other goals I did achieve were because of similar reasons. I simply set  intentions rather than resolutions.

Intentions keep you  in the present moment, while resolutions are focused on the future. Intentions allow for easy attainable goals you can do now, that lead you to achieve a bigger, long term goal. People want major life changes. They want this to be THE YEAR.  Big lofty resolutions that are stated usually go unachieved.  At least in the long run. Intentions are flexible – a plan, an aim. Resolutions are black and white and set in stone.  Intentions allow for daily work.  These  4 key things kept me focused daily on the goals I did achieve this past year:

1. Make small, attainable goals that help get you to where you want and that lead up to your bigger goal.
2. Tell yourself frequently that you WILL achieve your goal.  Do this every morning when you wake up if you need to.  Or, use post-it notes as reminders or some kind of vision board or item so you can see it daily.
3. Visualize what you want to happen and visualize yourself actually taking the particular steps to get there.   Say daily affirmations to keep you focused.
4. When you start to get discouraged, do something that inspires you and that makes that feeling go away.  Don’t let negative self-talk or excuses take over.

Make this year your best year ever.  Be committed.  Get uncomfortable if that is what it takes to achieve your goals.  Set daily intentions.  If you have dreams, peruse them, one small step at a time.  Make daily conscious decisions to achieve your goals in the long run.  Know that big goals and dreams don’t happen over time.  Do the work and don’t lose focus!  What goals and intentions will you have this year and what small steps will you take to achieve them?