Successful Resolutions for 2023

Increase Your Odds of Success

Are you making successful resolutions or do you crash and burn by February? (Artist: Unknown)

Do successful resolutions seem as far-fetched to you as Santa Claus or the Easter bunny? Year after year, people make their resolutions for the new year as the old one comes to a close. It’s a time-honored tradition, after all! For the vast majority (80-85%), their resolutions crash and burn by the end of January…perhaps mid-February at most.

But why?

Is it just a pointless exercise in futility?

(Artist: Unknown)

Symbolically the new year very clearly symbolizes new beginnings and turning over a new leaf. Some people don’t have to wait for the new year and make their goals all year long. Others stampede to the New Year’s resolution clifftop just like lemmings.

If the odds of failure are so high, what’s the point?

Is there anything that can be done to increase the odds of success?

1.Have a defined goal and a solid plan

(Photo Credit: 123RF.com Image ID: 35301688 Copyright: elwynn)

Your goal is like a big bullseye target. How can you aim for it if you don’t have one? Take the most popular resolution of all time…weight loss. Most people resolve to lose weight without specifics. How much weight and by what date? 3 months? 6 months? The end of the year? How do you plan on accomplishing that goal? What will you do or not do? Do you have contingency plans for when you hit a roadblock? What day of the week will you indulge in your cheat meal? Will you meal prep, buy ready-made meals, or leave your meals to chance? What exercises will you do each day?

Successful resolutions have clearly defined goals and detailed plans.

Be as specific as possible. Without a plan as a roadmap, you’ll be fighting an uphill battle and guessing all along the way. While every worthwhile goal is not without its struggles, having a plan helps you to avoid the feelings of overwhelm and hopelessness that often lead to quitting.

If your resolution is to improve your art, define that goal. Improve your art in what way? That’s your target. Now that you have something to aim for, how will you do it? Will you look for online courses or go to an actual brick-and-mortar school? Will you research your topic of interest online or buy art books?

Next, start with the end goal in mind. Let’s say you’ll have successfully reached your goal by this time next year. How did you get there? The idea of success is great but the idea of it is often overwhelming. Break things down into manageable chunks. Give yourself quarterly benchmarks (March, June, October, December). What milestone will you have accomplished at each of these benchmarks? List them out.

A lot of online courses have a set number of lessons that you can divide up over the course of 12 months. And lastly, what will you have to do to reach each of those benchmarks? Draw for 30 minutes each morning? Finish one lesson per week?

Be specific and hold yourself to it. That way, by the next New Year’s resolution, you’ll be ready for something bigger and better.

2.Have the right mindset

Most people view resolutions as punishment, restrictions, or a chore. If you think about it, resolutions should be a good thing. It should be about bettering yourself and yet they’re viewed as all the things we know we should do but don’t want to do. As I stated earlier, every single year 75-80% of the people who make resolutions fail by the end of February.

Why?

Well, first of all, resolutions like losing weight and getting in shape are generally viewed from a negative perspective. For example…I can’t eat all my favorite foods anymore, I can’t sleep in because I have to go to the gym, I can’t do my favorite time-wasting activity because I have to exercise, exercise is uncomfortable and I don’t like sweating, etc., etc., etc. Instead try looking at it from the positive side of regaining your health and fitness, of being able to wear whatever you want right off the rack, of having the abundance of energy that comes with fitness, or of being healthy enough to play with your grandkids someday.

People generally focus on how hard it will be and how much work it will take rather than the benefits.

Your mindset from the beginning can be a clear indication of how things will turn out. (Photo Credit: 123RF.com)

Of course, any resolution worth reaching for will require work and discipline. Nothing worth having was ever easily obtained or achieved. There’s a quote by Henry Ford that says… “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.” Those two ways of thinking are extraordinarily powerful. “I can” leaves doors open in the mind. “I can’t” closes those mental doors and deadbolts them.

Maybe your resolution is to lose weight. The total number may be completely overwhelming to you. How are you ever going to reach X number of pounds? Well, you won’t lose it by February, that’s for sure! Change your mindset to only 3-5 pounds by the end of January instead of the intimidating total of your end goal. 3-5 pounds in a month? That’s 0.5 to 1.5 pounds per week. Completely doable and much less overwhelming

The same can be done for any goal or resolution you might set. To up your chances of a successful resolution, get rid of all your “can’t” statements. If you’re just starting off learning how to draw, you already know that it’s going to take a lot of time and practice. Your mind is probably screaming at you, “I can’t do this!” It’s hard. It’s challenging and the easiest thing to do is give up before you even begin.

Logically, you won’t be a DaVinci or a Michelangelo overnight. Rather than focus on the Sistine Chapel, focus on mastering simple shapes (literally). Break your art goal down into those manageable 0.5 to 1.5 pound chunks.

Everyone can be taught. Even you.

Especially when your huge goal is broken down into tiny, bite-sized portions. And once you get each lesson down, just keep building on it. By the end of the year, you should see a significant difference and you can count that as a successful resolution.

3.Don’t bite off more than you can chew

Biting off more than you can chew is a sure way to doom yourself to failure before you even get started! (Photo Credit: 123RF.com)

The other thing I notice people doing is writing huge lists for their resolutions. I’ve seen people with lists of ten or twelve different goals. With a list like that, anyone would be ready to quit by mid-January!

Pick no more than two or three.

You can even categorize your resolutions. For example, every year you can address three areas of your life such as Health, Family, and Finances. For each of those categories, address one issue.

Let’s take Health first. Your resolution could be losing weight where you would resolve to eat better and exercise at least three times per week. Then for the category of Family, you might set a goal of spending more quality time together, maybe specifically setting a family movie night once a week. The Finance category could involve paying off your largest debt.

By giving yourself less to focus on and only targeting a select few goals, your resolution’s success rate will go up. Remember that each one requires a defined goal and a solid plan of action.

4.Stop making excuses

Most humans are unaware of how often they make excuses every day. We do it without even thinking about it. One thing is certain when it comes to this bad habit. If you’re after successful resolutions, you have to stop making excuses. Excuses don’t bring results. They push them further away. Every time you make an excuse, you’re delaying your progress.

Start paying attention to how often you make excuses throughout the day. Once you realize how often you do it, ask yourself if you prefer having the excuse or reaching your goal. The truth is, the things that are important to us become priorities and they get done no matter what. If something isn’t important to us, we find excuses.

You can have one or the other, but not both.

5.Hold yourself accountable

Accountability is huge when it comes to success rates. It also eliminates excuses. You can’t be accountable if you’re making excuses.

Take weight loss for example. In all honesty, you can sneak unhealthy foods when no one is looking, but the numbers don’t lie when you get on that scale. You can step up your accountability by posting your progress on social media. You can also vow to post progress photos. Scary, but effective. Or, you can simply have an accountability partner.

If you resolve to learn how to draw, your accountability measure could be the same. Your plan would have to include a class (even online) and regular practice. This would then reflect in your work. You could opt for regular (perhaps daily or weekly) social media posts or show your work to a mentor.

Whatever your goal may be, figure out a way to hold yourself accountable.

6.Expect (and welcome) mistakes and obstacles

Reality check time. You’re human. Mistakes are bound to happen many times along your journey.

There isn’t a pro athlete or expert anything who didn’t make thousands of mistakes on their journeys to master status. These successful individuals welcomed every single mistake. Why?

Because they know a valuable secret.

Mistakes are your best teachers.

When you make a mistake, it’s an opportunity to learn something. Learn the lesson and apply it. Yes, it can be frustrating. But why wouldn’t you want to learn something new about the goal that you’re after? All of those mistakes and lessons help you grow to your own expert status.

And obstacles are there to test how badly you want to reach your goal. Time is a big obstacle. Hectic lives, lots of obligations, and unforeseen occurrences can all get in the way of doing the things we need to do to reach our goals. Sometimes money is an issue. Quality art supplies are not cheap. Whatever your perceived obstacles are, it’s up to you to find ways around them.

If you want it badly enough, you’ll pick yourself up every time and keep pushing forward. You’ll find ways around obstacles and you’ll welcome mistakes. That’s how successful resolutions are reached.

To sum things up…

Resolutions don’t have to be a waste of time or a futile exercise designed to make you feel like a loser at the end of the year. You do not have to be part of the 75-80% who give up on their resolutions. To recap, successful resolutions happen by:

1. A defined goal and a solid plan are your roadmaps to success.
2. Adopt the right mental attitude. Negativity will get you nowhere.
3. Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Be realistic and reasonable. Too much will just overwhelm you.
4. Stop making excuses. Excuses or results. You can only have one.
5. Hold yourself accountable. Accountability adds that little bit of pressure to stay on track. Who enjoys explaining why they fell short that week?
6. Mistakes and obstacles are your friends. Welcome the learning opportunities as well as the growth that comes from overcoming roadblocks.

And remember that even if you don’t manage to do 100% of what you set out to do, you didn’t crash and burn! You’re still ahead of where you started.

Some progress is better than no progress!

It’s just a matter of continuing until you do reach your goals. And when resolution time rolls around again next year, this year’s successful resolutions will already be part of your daily habit and you can set your sights on new goals.

Ultimately, resolutions are meant to make us better people, not perfect people. There is no perfect, only better. So if we can resolve to be better people than we were yesterday, the battle is half done!

Happy holidays, folks! Be safe and stay warm. And let’s ring in the New Year a little older, a little wiser, and with bright optimism.

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