Tuesday, December 31, 2013

5 Tricks to Truly Stick To Your New Years Resolutions. Program Them! + 2014 Goals

Envision a life where being organized, eating healthy food, and exercising regularly is so easy it's automated. We can program our brain and accomplish seemingly difficult resolutions just like a shining chrome robot. Of efficiency! Effictron Completer of Tasks! I studied the subject and made three tasks that seemed impossible automatic, easy and enjoyable: working from home earning 100% my own income, eating a healthy vegan diet, and losing over 30lbs to arrive at a healthy weight. Here are 5 tricks I know will make your habit stick:


1) 30 Days: Commit to your resolution for 30 days straight; the time it takes for your brain to automate the habit.
Do This: Get a huge calendar and mark a big "X" for every day you stuck to your habit. Seeing an unmarked day will make you twitch. Seems juvenile but it works! Do whatever it takes to not miss a single day during your brain programming time.

2) Visualize: Visualization is an important brain tool that works for accomplishing goals. It's Science!
Do This: Imagine yourself fitting old clothes or knowing where every single item is in your home. Post pictures of your goals around your work space, like photos of things you want to save up to buy.

3) Plan Ahead: Don't expect to magically achieve new habits and hit goals without planning!
Do This: Write a list of what you need to buy or do to hit a goal. Example: If you want to lose weight, trash the junk food, replace your pantry with only healthy goods, and schedule work-out days.

4) Enjoy It: I don't reward myself for hitting goals, instead I do what it takes to enjoy my new habit.
Do This: Get what you need to make a task easier. Upgrade your computer or camera, only buy food you like to eat when you're switching up your diet, or do an exercise you actually like. I choose bike riding for exercise because running feels like dying. Makes me feel like an aspirating fish on land. Can't do it.)

5) Be Accountable: Buckle down and hit it, don't miss a single day for that first 30 days to make it stick.
Do This: Share your goals with friends, post them everywhere, start a resolution with a group of friends that'll beat you with a mallet if you miss a day! I kid. But no excuses, you! You can't excuse missing a day.

Be Specific and Simple: Drill down your resolution into a simple action step. Use your verbs! I changed "Innovate and improve quality on everything I do!" (too vague) to "'Try something new with every project."

What Are Your New Years Resolutions for 2014? What do you to to stick to new habits and resolutions? I'd love to know your tips, need all the help I can get personally!
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29 comments:

  1. My New Years Resolutions for 2014:

    1) Move: Ride my bike for 30 minutes every single weekday. (+ Gonna be active as much as possible with my roomie.)
    2) Organized: Put Everything back in it's Home as soon as I'm Done. (Especially receipts!)
    3) Adventures: Go on an Adventure to somewhere new at Least Once a Week.
    4) Quality & Innovation: Do something I haven't done before with each project. + Ask myself, "How can I take this to the next level?" with each project and implement that change.
    5) Community: Get Active in the Community Again by collaborating on projects with different people.

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  2. 1. My business goal is to double my inventory and double my sales this year. In order to double my inventory I have to list 1.3 items every day or 10 items a week OVER what I sell that day or that week. I know I can do it. In fact I'd be happy to do it in less than a year but will give myself a year to achieve it. I need to do this EVERY day. I'm still working on defining my personal goals but I know one of them will be to exercise more and eat healthier.

    I'm really impressed by the change you made in your diet and your weight loss! It's very inspiring.

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    1. That's awesomely specific Nancy, love that! I suck at setting specific number goals for my business but you've inspired me to do that today. I set profits and inventory ones but rarely stick to them.

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  3. My goals are:

    1. To start my own website, instead of having to use Ebay, etc. I already have the plans in place, it is just soooo time consuming.

    2. Become a vegetarian, something that I really want to accomplish for many reasons.

    And the one thing that I *know* I will accomplish is

    3. Thrift even more!

    Have a wonderful and prosperous New Year!

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    1. Happy New Year to you too, with those nice simple action-oriented goals I'm sure you can do it :D !

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  4. Great advice! Time for me to put this into action as I think about goals for the new year.

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  5. Great goals, Van! Good luck! Leaving easy to read reminders in prominent places in a help-- bathroom mirror, fridge door, silverware drawer-- you get the idea. Like your big calendar suggestion.

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    1. I write daily sales and spending on my big calendar too, I love it! Hand-writing things keeps tasks tangible and I like the visual reminder. Love your reminders tip, may have to put some on my bathroom mirror! So many thoughts...so very many...

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  6. What great advice and wonderful goals. I hope you'll do an update at the end of January and let us all know what progress you've made. I haven't thought much about resolutions. I do hope to be more *present* in my every day life and not as distracted with things that don't matter as much as the people I love. Happy New Year!

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    1. I think I shall, I wanna do an update on the progress for the 14 before 2014 too :D That's a good resolution we should all aspire to you've got there.

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  7. Organize my crap. All of it. In sections, starting with my shop inventory.

    Do my dance workout videos three times a week at the least. BTW, I love your assessment of running ("it feels like dying"). I feel that way about it too. I've got friends who run marathons and freaking run races in the snow on special "runner's snowshoes" and I just can't get there with that! Dancing and hiking, now those I can do :)

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    1. I love hiking! I think a problem I have is disliking activity that's not productive, too. Hiking you see scenery and get somewhere, biking you get somewhere faster, it's hard to justify the dying-feeling of running so far. But you never know what the future holds. I am currently this very second still trying to organize ALL THE THINGS before the clock strikes 12, I won't have done it all to the very best of my ability categorized in a spreadsheet as planned but I got close :D Good luck on your resolution.

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  8. Great advice Van! My resolution is to be more efficient and thoughtful...in everything. My time, my money, my relationships, my house, my booth. All of it! It's a lofty goal I know, baby steps. : )

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    1. That's a veeeery good one to have that can affect everything. I'm always working on that one, too!

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  9. One month at a time! January = meatless month. :)

    Laura

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    1. One month at a time is a good idea. Good luck to ya!

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  10. I LOVE goal setting!!! Great tips, especially the 30 days to form a habit- I really believe that is important and most of us can commit to 30 days. I have a post with some of my goals up on my blog- too many to list here!

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  11. Great tips, I do believe we have read the same blogsbooksarticles. I started a journal group that uses a daily planner and gives you prompts for art journaling. I used to be a sculptor, a good one. I even made a living at it. Then I crashed and I crashed hard. I can't paint, do charcoal (my emphasis in college) or sculpt. My creative outlet for years has been cutting paper. No stress involved at all. But lately I think I could start again. Joining this yearly art but kinda just a planner (I already set up a monthly goal page with all the things you mentioned up above). Could be my way to finding myself again my artistic side at any rate....I don't know its a thought maybe at least be able to use color pencils or something. But sometimes things are so scary and daunting you can't set a goal. You just kinda whisper it in the wind and hope it catches. So I whispered.

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    1. Crap I mean I joined a journal group. Holy shite I'd die of stress and anxiety if I started one!!:)

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    2. You either use it or lose it with creativity, you really do. I want to do "daily drawings" and get back in a making routine, too! Have your read "The Artist's Way?" I want to try to commit to a lot of it's teachings again. It made a lot of sense! Good luck getting back to where you were with sculpting. I have this idea for a ceramics like and I've been contacting different artists/sculptures to see who I can work with to help me make it happen!

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  12. These are interesting tips! If we create habits we will go on with our wishes. I just don't have a rotine so it makes harder. Schedules are very helpful, for eg. if I go swimming I can do it any time so I simply don't go but if I have dancing CLASSES with a fixed schedule I will attend ;)

    I just post about my 2014 Goals
    http://shantifreebird.blogspot.pt/2014/01/goals-list-2014.html

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    1. Was right about to check out your blog too, fun timing. Routine and schedules are a MUST! I'm currently setting up my blogging schedule :)

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  13. I love love love these tips. Thanks for sharing!

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  14. You rollercoaster game ever? It feels like what ??? Howling soul, afraid to faint, good value for money and ... to the old way cool right! Despite the psychological preparation to how much skill as the ship began to run, you're no longer able to master his emotions well anymore
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I love reading your comments. Thank you for adding to the discussion! I always reply to any and all questions.

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