5 Tips to Set New years Resolutions the Right Way.

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The disappointment I felt every end of year when I looked at the resolutions I had set to accomplish that year and I had not ticked even a single one of them off the list was too much. And yet, when you set your goals right, you'll end up setting resolutions that you'll manage to accomplish. And at the end of the year when you look at that list and realize you've ticked off almost everything of those that you'd intended to do, it's such an amazing feeling.

I have come to appreciate the following 5 tips in setting resolutions that get accomplished:

1. Set goals that matter to you.

In most cases, we find ourselves setting goals that matter to our parents, teachers, friends, neighbors or our society, which is why we often find it hard, or even pointless to accomplish those specific goals.

That external motivation that comes from wanting to please those around us is not motivation enough to get us through from setting a particular goal to accomplishing it.

For example, just because your friend reads 20 books a year doesn't mean that you have to set it as your new year's goal, even though it's a good thing. 

Don't go back to school next year just because everyone else is going back or because everyone expects you to, only go back to school because YOU want/have to.

The point is, to set goals that we will accomplish, we need to have a bigger WHY. If our reason for a given goal is weak (depending on how one may define weakness), we are most likely not to accomplish it. We'll find ourselves stepping out energetically to start working on the goal, then at some point we procrastinate, then eventually get frustrated about it, and then end up with the same disappointment at the end of 2021: having a whole list of unaccomplished goals. Not because we couldn't, but because we didn't exactly want those particular goals in the first place.

2. Ask the One who has been in the next year.

If I want to start a business, it's almost natural that I'll ask those who have been in that same business. But as we are making our new year's resolution, we forget to ask Him who has already been to 2021: God.

As the year 2020 was clocking in, I wrote an amazing list of new year's resolutions and I remember God telling me, "Forget your resolutions and pray! Pray very often and the year will be good."

"Okay God, that is nice, I will surely pray, but I know that you'll also help me accomplish this amazing list of resolutions too!" I said in my heart.

I started the year with chasing after everything on my amazing list of resolutions, until around April when I realized that I could not even be able to leave the house because of the Corona virus lockdown.

In December 2019, as I was setting my 2020 resolutions, He who had already been to 2020 advised that I forget about my resolutions, but it took me close to a few months to respect His advice.

"We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps."
-Proverbs 16:9 

So, be sure to take off some time, a week, a month and seek God for His direction in your 2021. You will be amazed.

3. Write them down.

When we write down things, they tend to stay longer in our memory. Even when we forget them, that notebook, that sticky note, that vision book will remind us.

Writing down things helps us clearly track progress. Plus, the action of ticking goals off the list is a mental reward in itself.

4. Break down your goals.

After we have prayed and written down the goals that matter to us, we need to break down our year's resolutions into monthly targets, weekly targets and then daily to-do points.

A good way to achieve your dream of publishing a book is by writing at least a sentence every day. The best way you can become an international icon is by working on your craft every single day.

John Maxwell, in his book 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth, says, "Small disciplines repeated with consistency everyday lead to great achievements gained slowly overtime."

"Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin..."
-Zechariah 4:10

Target the small wins, because they lead to outstanding achievements. You'll be surprised when you eventually discover How to become an overnight success .

5. Reward yourself.

This point works miracles for me, and I believe it will for you too, because our minds naturally love being rewarded. 

You will be shocked at how much you can do when you promise to reward yourself nicely every after you accomplish a small win.

"...Don't hesitate to accept hospitality, because those who work deserve to be fed."
-Matthew 10:10

I got myself to like reading using this trick. I set a weekly target to read let's say 20 pages of class work and whenever I did, I bought myself some nice food. Even when my motivation to read was negative, I got myself to read because I didn't want to miss out on the fancy food I'd promised myself. And now reading is no longer a big struggle to me!

Yes, no jokes, fancy food really works for me most of the time. So, when it comes to this tip, feel free to choose a reward that matters to you.

I want to spend more time with God this coming year, and I have set that if I spend a minimum of let's say 4 hours a week (which is about 30 minutes daily) with God, I will take myself out every Sunday.

Like I said, I really like fancy food and I already have a list of food-types that I'll be ordering each Sunday: 

BOOM: The whole January 2021 weekly rewards list is covered, I would not want to miss any of the above, yet at the end of the year my big goal of getting to spend more time with God will be accomplished!

I would love to know the rewards that work well for you, please feel free to share with me in the comments.

Happy New year to all, friends!
Till next Wednesday.
God bless you!