It's almost the end of January and about the time people tend to feel like they are falling off track with their New Year's resolutions and goals. This year, instead of giving up and thinking that maybe it was too unrealistic, try these 3 steps to get back on track.
Step 1: Reflect
Write down the goals you wanted to achieve, and the habits/behaviours you were doing to get there.
Then reflect on which ones worked and which ones didn't work. If it worked and you were able to keep it up, why were you able to? Was it because you enjoyed it more? Was it because it was easy to implement in your daily life? Was it because someone else was doing it with you? Was it because you really valued the goal and prioritised the work? If it didn't go to plan and you stopped doing the behaviours that would reach you to your goal, why? Was it because it was too far out of your comfort zone? Was it because it was too time-consuming? Was it because you feel like you kept failing and messing it up? Was there a life event or situation that wasn't taken into consideration when you first planned it?
This information is going to be useful to decide what behaviours you want to continue or keep trying, and what you want to change.
Step 2: Adjust
You've decided what you want to continue with and what you want to change. Now it's time to make any adjustments necessary to tailor the action plan to meet your goals in a way that better suits you and your life. For the behaviours you want to keep trying, and which may need an adjustment, think back to what it was about them that was difficult to adhere to. Was it because of the time restraints, was it the location, was it difficult, was it the enjoyment (or lack of)? Then find a way to change the actions to suit.
Here are other ways to adjust if you...
Find it too uncomfortable: bring a friend, play some fun music, reduce the time you do it for, and plan a comfort activity straight after.
Find it too time-consuming: look for convenience options (ready-made goods), or reduce the time you do it for, something is better than nothing!
Feel like you were messing up: intentionally half-arse it. I'm serious, do it with the intent to be messy, get things wrong, and make mistakes. You don't have to be perfect to start.
Don't enjoy it: change the activity to make it a little more exciting, combine it with enjoyable things, add music, challenge yourself to get it done in a certain time, and reward yourself with something you enjoy afterwards.
Step 3: Plan
So now you have your new list of actions to support your goals. All you have to do is plan what, when and how you are going to incorporate this into your schedule.
Pick which behaviour or action you will do, choose a day and a time, and take note of the specifics. Be prepared to adjust the plan time and time again.
Use February to bring your goals back on track! And use these steps to continue making changes and adjustments to your action plan.
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