HACKING YOUR NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS
According to U.S. News & World Report, the failure rate for New Year's resolutions is about 80 percent. Most people lose their good intentions by mid-February.
I don’t want you to be part of this statistic. I want you to be part of the 20% successful “resolutioners”!
I will share with you how to hack your New Year’s resolutions with five simple strategies that will bring you confidence, excitement, and fun; five strategies that will make you successful.
1. Setting measurable goals
Whatever your New Year’s resolutions are, make sure they are measurable.
Do you want to save money? How much?
Do you want to lose weight? How much?
Do you want to study a topic or skill up? What level do you want to reach?
Do you want to write a book? How many pages, how many words?
It is really important that you have measurable goals because you want to be able to track your progress. It will help you to stay motivated, keep your focus and excitement when you are close to achieving your goals.
How to do this? First, set your goal (the big one, don’t play small!). Make sure it is your own goal and not a goal someone else expects from you or that society wants you to reach. Everybody is on a different path and season in their life. Your goal is personal. For someone, Losing 12 lbs. could be a huge goal or saving $2,400 at the end of the year could be a great deal. Nobody should judge your goal. It is yours; own it, stick to it, and be proud of it.
To make sure you will not be overwhelmed and lose motivation, it is important to break down your “big” goals into smaller goals. I often say that you should set a goal big enough to stretch you out of your comfort zone (challenging) but small enough to be reachable. To use my previous examples, it is possible to break down the goal into smaller steps. Losing 1lb. a month consistently or saving $200 a month could be challenging but reachable. You can even break it down to a week, like saving $50 a week.
Setting a set of smaller goals will really help you past the mid-February crisis where 80% of the people give up! Don’t forget that each time you reach your smaller goals, you compound them toward your big goal. It will as well give you an opportunity to celebrate and I expect you to do it! Celebrate all your little wins.
2. Accountability partner
Would you agree that it is more fun to reach a goal with your best friend, a group of people, or within a community? That is when an accountability partner comes into the game. Make sure you have someone who will not only check that you are on the path to victory but cheer you up along the way, especially during the tough days.
I coach High Performance and Leadership to executives and entrepreneurs who have their plate full almost every day. Like everybody else, they have their ups and downs. Being a High Performer does not mean that they are always on the top of their game. Sometimes they trip. They are as human as you and I. However the difference is that they have someone who can help them to get back on track. As their coach, it is my duty to cheer them up when they need emotional support; to celebrate them when they reach a milestone or a goal. I am present, I engage and challenge them to push on and reach their goals.
I want you to be the coach, the accountability partner, the moral support for someone and I want someone to be the same for you. Deal?
Nobody achieves great success alone. The greatest athletes have not only one accountability partner, like a coach, but many, for different goals, different needs, or different aspects of their life.
I want you to set yourself up for success. Join a team or create your own team. Ask someone to be with you. If you cannot have someone to do it with you, at least have a loved one, someone you deeply appreciate and trust, to be by your side. You want that person to be reliable, kind, and motivated for you to succeed. Believe me, it will make all the difference, especially when the little voice in your head is challenging you and you want to skip what you have scheduled (we all have that voice, my dear!).
3. Using the reverse engineering method
Having a goal and not reserving time to achieve it is basically being a dreamer. It may sound rash but it is the truth. Any goal, any project, needs action. Believing and convincing yourself that you are capable, believing in the law of attraction, and setting the right chain of thought to succeed is crucial. But without action, nothing is going to happen. The best way to reach your goal is to set a time in your calendar; reserve a block of time for the specific task and then execute it.
If you want to write a 240-page book or 60,000 words in 8 months, you can break it down to 30 pages a month or 7,500 words. Per week, it will be a little bit less than 4 pages or 1,875 words. Can you set up 1 hour each day of the week (I give you the weekend free) to write 375 words, which is roughly ¾ of a page a day? I think that it is doable, right? So block one hour every day and during that hour focus on your writing. Write your words, 5 days of the week, and see how much you will progress month after month. Before you know it, your book will be written!
Now, I am giving you an extra tip that can help you perform better in reaching your goal. Depending on the importance of your goal or project and the time of day where you perform the best, choose a block of time that will address both of them; important goals should be scheduled when you are performing at your best.
“But, Hubert, that is all cool! What about motivation! You know, the one that often does not show up when it is needed; the little voice that tells you to do it later or tells you to catch up tomorrow… I think they call him Mr. Procrastination. How can I make sure I will not trip on this one?”
One solution is to set your block of time before something you are really looking forward to doing, something you enjoy. For example, if every day you are looking forward to meeting your family for dinner, set up the block of time before. It is a powerful hack. Set up your time before (and not after) something you are excited to do. Try it… it works!
Don’t be a dreamer; be a doer. Plan and execute. Show up every day. Don’t find excuses. Stick to your schedule with dedication and determination. Be resilient. Within a few weeks, you will see how much you have accomplished.
4. Build up routines that will lead to habits
First, what is the difference between routines and habits? Both are repetitive actions that we do often. However, routines start first. They require a higher level of focus, intention, and effort (or action). Do you remember when you started learning how to write alphabet letters? Do you remember the first time you learned how to drive a car? You set up the intention to be able to write or drive. You were focused. You then practiced it repeatedly, the same action over and over. Then the routine set in and suddenly became something you didn’t need to focus on anymore. It became something you did automatically. That is when it becomes a habit. You don’t have to set an intention to write a specific letter of the alphabet or to drive your car anymore. It is automatic. You know what words you want to write and you know how to operate your car without too much thinking. You need less awareness and intention to make it happen.
If you want to make sure you not only lose weight but keep your weight at the level you want over a long period of time, make sure you build a routine around your exercise or eating habits (see habits again!). If one of your resolutions is to journal, meditate, or practice yoga, plan it in a way that creates a routine in order later to become a habit. For example, every morning, I drink my water with a lemon, walk my dog, come back, meditate, stretch, journal, and then plan my day. It started as a routine and now it is a habit.
Plan your block of time wisely and if possible set up your activity at the same time every day or every week. It will help you to not only reach your goal but also to build a good routine that will last for a long time.
5. Debrief often and correct the course
As a fighter pilot, one thing I did consistently after every training mission was the debriefing. The reason is that we wanted to improve and get better. We looked at what we planned and briefed before the mission. Then, we executed the mission. After the mission, we debriefed and looked at the root cause of our wins and our mistakes. A debriefing of a complex mission could take many hours. We structured our debriefing in five segments: 1) overview of the mission, 2) mission objectives and results, 3) the positive aspects (wins), 4) the main mistake (only one), 5) the minor mistakes (maybe 2 to 4), and last, 6) we summarized our debriefing with suggestions for improvement for next mission.
As you can see, we covered a lot. It is really important to see what went well and amplify it. It is where you will find the motivation when it is needed. Finding one major mistake, challenge or struggle is important. You don’t want to make a list of all the things that went wrong; you are going to be depressed. Focus on the major one and try to improve this one first.
Debriefing should occur often. Personally, I do one weekly debriefing about what has happened during the week. The earlier you see a deviation from where you are and where you want to go or what you want to achieve, the smaller and easier will be the correction. For example, if after a few days you identify that you are not writing the number of pages or words to reach your goal at the end of the month, you can look at what has caused this delay and take the appropriate action to correct it. You can still reach your goal at the end of the month, even if you have missed a few days. On the other hand, if you have waited until the end of the month to debrief, you may find out that you missed a lot of days and that it will be harder to correct and get back on track within the next few weeks.
Final words
Setting measurable goals, finding accountability partner(s) or people to join you on your journey, planning block-times in your schedule, building up routines and habits, and debriefing often to see if you are on track will give you a huge advantage in keeping your New Year’s resolution throughout the year. It may sound like a lot! Or you may feel overwhelmed. But try it. It may take time in the beginning. However, after a while, you will get faster and it will become a routine. I debrief my week every Sunday. It took me time at the beginning. But now, I can do it in 30 minutes. I enjoy these 30 minutes. I reflect on my wins and that makes me happy and brings me joy. I look at one major area I want to improve and maybe 2 - 3 minor areas I want to correct. This routine has changed my life. I am always amazed at how much I have improved in my business and in my personal life. Each week, each month, I can see progress. I can feel myself growing into a better version of myself. It feels good and I want more of it.
Now you have more tools or strategies to become successful in your New Year’s resolution. I want you to be in the 20%. Better, I want to grow this number by reaching more people. I believe that we, together, can create a ripple effect in this world. If everyone shares their experiences and helps others to reach their goals, it will elevate the quality of life for many. You can be the accountability partner for someone. You can be a role model. Share what you have learned; share these strategies; make a difference!
Now time to step up and show up regarding your New Year’s resolution. If you need any support, I will be here for you. Let’s do it together!
YourHPcoach
Hubert
P.S.: Hey guys, Hubert here!
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