Learn How You Can Stick to Your Goals and Keep Your Resolutions

if you’re like most of us it can be hard to stick to your goals and keep your resolutions after the holidays. In fact by the second week of January, 77% of Americans have already nixed their New Year’s resolutions and feel unmotivated. But, changing your behavior can help you stick to your resolutions. Psychotherapist and Author, Emily Roberts, otherwise known as “The Guidance Girl” visits with KEYE’s We Are Austin to help! Watch now as she gives you the 4-1-1 on keeping your resolutions.

Forget all the stuff you learned about breaking habits. The bullsh*t like: “It takes 21 days to make a habit” or that you’re “lazy” if you can’t achieve your goals. No, the reason you aren’t feeling good about your yourself, unable to stick to your goals or resolutions is because they aren’t working for you. THIS IS GREAT NEWS! I know you’re thinking WHAT? But listen, if it’s now working it doesn’t mean you are the problem, it means the goal or desire needs a bit of an adjustment.

5 Ways to Stick to Your Goals

Instead of abandoning your goals or forgetting about resolutions until next year, try what’s worked for me. You are not going to failure  when you get clear on what’s holding you back and what you want. Let’s get flexible about how we view setting and achieving goals or resolutions so you can finally feel confident. How do you make your goals and resolutions stick this year?

1. What’s Your Why? How will this contribute to an improvement in the quality of my life? How will making this change make me happier, more fulfilled and more aligned with my life’s purpose?
2. How do I want to feel? What’s your desired outcome and intended outcome? Future trip with me, how will you feel in three months, and how you want to feel about your goal or resolution later in the year. Check out how Taylor and I talk about this in the clip above.
3. Get the facts. Assumptions are not your friend, if you really want to achieve a goal or get rid of something in your life figure out what’s realistic. Going from sedentary to working out every day is a recipe for disaster. Ask the experts and get several opinions. Cold turkey and all or nothing thinking patterns are a surefire way to fail fast.
4. Try the 10 minute rule. You can do anything for 10 minute right?. Walk on the treadmill, read an article, look for jobs, even tolerate annoying people. Start off with a little work each day on your goal or resolution. Ten minutes isn’t the goal of course but it helps turn your unmotivated mind into a achieving machine. You just accomplished more than you did a few minutes ago, a few weeks ago and are closer to succeeding
5. Communicate your commitment. Find your accountability buddies, reach out to friends or family that support you. Scary? Try going online or finding local support groups or forums so that you create a tribe of other like-minded and motivated people. Communicate to yourself too! Research shows that journaling even for a few minutes about your goals and desires make them more achievable, not typing, actual writing in a notebook with a pen or pencil. Why? Your frontal lobe processes it different and it actually stays in your mind longer.

Oh and one of my favorite tips that I didn’t add into the interview is that I’ve been using this awesome planner from Tools4Wisdom. OH MY GOSH you guys this thing is helping me NOT procrastinate and feel more in alignment with my goals. Not only does it have a calendar and weekly goals, there is an entire section about getting clear on what you want and why- PLUS it helps you keep track of your progress. Today only you can get 15 percent off for MLK day. The Amazon code is VBGAUCVK  for the deal running through midnight on January 18th. I’m not kidding you guys this think is great!

Good luck with your goals and resolutions and let me know how you’re doing!

Take Good Care,

Em

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Emily Roberts MA, LPC is The Guidance Girl. Her goal is to help YOU become the most confident person you know! Emily is an award-winning author Express Yourself: A Teen Girls Guide to Speaking Up and Becoming Who You Are, Psychotherapist, TV & Media Contributor, Educational Speaker, and parenting consultant. She travels around the country educating girls, women, and parents. Express Yourself is available at bookstores nationwide and on Amazon. To learn more about Emily click here.