Make A New Year's Resolutions Last Past January
By Michele Rosenthal. Posted on .
If you’re like most people, the beginning of the new year caused you to look back and see what you didn’t accomplish in the year that just passed, and look ahead to think about what you want to accomplish in the year ahead. You probably spent the days leading up to New Year’s Eve contemplating your choices and forming resolutions based on things that were most important to you. Maybe you vowed to lose weight, exercise more regularly, stop dating guys that lie, cheat and break your heart… And if you’re like most people (80% in fact) by the end of January you’ve probably lost momentum, lacked follow through and given up on the whole idea.
The fact is, 100% of your behavior is motivated by your beliefs. If your beliefs are in alignment with your resolutions, then you’ll achieve them, no problem. But if you beliefs are out of alignment with your goals – say, your resolution is to exercise more but your belief is that you already exercise enough, or exercise is really overrated – then your resolutions will trail off like the last blaze of a New Year’s Eve fireworks display.
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Since your belief system is at the core of everything you do, say, think and feel, it makes sense that the beliefs you hold influence your interpretation of yourself, the world, events and all that's possible in your life. Out of all the beliefs you carry, the most important ones are those that relate to how you perceive yourself. If you believe you are strong, courageous, creative and powerful you will achieve anything to which you set your mind. If, however, your self-belief wobbles, wiggles or melts like Jello, your goals will do the same.
One of the biggest beliefs that can nix your New Year resolution progress is your belief in yourself. On a scale of 1-10 (10 being the strongest) where would you rate your belief in yourself to achieve anything you truly desire? If you’re not at a 10 you have some work to do. Ask yourself the follow up question: What would it take to move that up one notch? While believing in yourself may seem difficult the truth is that you've had belief in yourself since you were just an infant. You believed you could learn to stand, and you did. You believed you could learn to crawl, and you did. You believed you could learn to talk, feed yourself and walk -- and you did. Long before you entertained disbelief you had a core belief in your ability to achieve – and to keep trying until you did. Believing in yourself today means tapping back into that inherent system every day.
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Not sure you can do that? Try this:
Think back to a time in your life that you faced a challenge bigger than any before, and that you triumphed over. Remember what it was like to find yourself in that situation. Call up right now the fear, anxiety, stress, worry, embarrassment, shame -- all of the emotions that went along with that moment. Remember how at the beginning you thought you weren't strong enough, or smart enough, or skilled enough or resourceful enough to manage the situation and do what needed to be done in order to move through it with strength, clarity and success. Remember the voices of others who also didn't believe you could triumph. Remember how small, weak, ineffective and powerless you felt back then.
