How to make New year's resolutions ?

It is this time of the year when we wrap up the ending of 360 days of our lives.

Here we are getting ready to welcome in a new one. Many people choose to make lists of what would this new year be like. Dreams that they want to achieve. Things that they want to do. And Habits that they want to stick to. And we all know the story after, sadly almost no one commits to their goals, and the new year resolution list will end up forgotten in one of our notebooks or a word sheet.

We forgot and when the year is coming to an end we remember our resolutions and we feel the guild, so to feel good about ourselves we decide to make a new resolution list for the upcoming year and we repeat the vicious cycle once again.

The question here, why are these goals or dreams or habits never come true?

The answer is quite simple actually. We tend to fill an entire paper with all our wishes and desires. Creating habits is such a tricky thing, you cannot start 20 habits at the same time that’s impossible, you will do it one time and then drop it. You need to learn to set realistic, sustainable longterm goals and habits. Forget about what successful people are doing, focus on what you really want and what you really excited about. Some habits will only work for a specific type of people. For instance, waking up at 5 am can work for some people very well, for my case, it would ruin my life especially in the long run. You just need to experiment with it and try different things not at once, but take your time trying, failing, testing, and deciding whether you want to continue or not.

1- Start small: it is not a sprint it’s a marathon set a small scale

Do not fall into the trap of making lists and lists of goals and wishes, that you will soon forget about. 

Start simple and small. Think clearly about the things you want to achieve that will go hand in hand with your goals. For instance, if you want to start writing, make sure to focus on one goal which is being consistent, make it mandatory to write at least one page a day and then upgrade it to more than one page. Never set a goal that it is hard to sustain. 

2- Make your resolutions more specific

The more specific the better. Random, vague goals and habits will never be real, they will just stay on paper. Be mindful of what you are willing to learn to achieve your dreams. Choose what is the most important goal for you right now, and break it down into small steps.

3-Track your progress and your failures 

Keep a habit tracking journal of your habits and goals. Track your failures as well, because there will be so many, don't discourage instead try to figure out why you failed, and then reverse engineer to make it work.  After each month, for example, reassess your goals and adjust them as needed. 

4- Make long term goals 
And last but not least, do not make it about one year try to have bigger goals, make it sustainable. Think about where you want to be in 3 or 5 years from now, and plan it step by step, create small, easy and achievable steps.