In this post I wanted to talk about New Year Resolutions …as I would love for you to feel like a winner every year (and not set another goal that you’ve already failed for like the last 4 years)

Yes…I know….if you’re thinking…’errm Vindya…….isn’t it a little too late to talk about New Year’s Resolution Setting?’

Well….I would rather talk about it now, when everyone is sober, back from excessive eating, drinking and partying (not forgetting the family drama), than when you are hungover and having a food baby.

So…..if you have already set some New Year’s Resolutions for 2019, fantastic!

This would be a great time to reflect back on them and validate that they are still great goals you want to work towards in the year. And put some real steps in place to get there.

And…..if you still haven’t……now would be a great time to set them the right way 🙂

So…here are the 5 common mistakes I see people making all the time when they set goals for the New Year:

1.       Making silly goals you don’t actually care about

Most of the time when we make new year’s resolutions,  we’re not in our optimal metal state to make them. Like…..having a glass of wine in one hand and a party popper in the other while talking to a complete stranger about skydiving naked.

Most of the time we haven’t thought this through. Hence, we end up setting goals every year and we end up failing ourselves.

We hardly stop to evaluate our entire life, the legacy we want to leave, figuring out what’s really been stopping us, before we set another goal. That way you only set goals that actually matters.

2.       Getting addicted to failing

The funny thing that happens if you have a track record of not achieving what you set to achieve the last few times is that our subconscious goes into a pattern of failure.

Because we failed the last few years, now secretly your subconscious believes that you’re not serious! You know what I’m talking about!

You know that when you say ‘I’m going to lose 10 kgs’, you secretly think ‘not gonna happen!’.

The only way to come out of this one is to set small goals that are not too ridiculous to achieve and not too easy either, so you actually achieve them.

When this happens a couple of times, then you can go on to setting bigger and better goals and you’d still get them no matter how ridiculous they may sound. But start getting into the habit of winning first.

3.       Not Having a System to Succeed

A common mistake that’s made is setting a goal and just assuming it’s going to happen. (law of attraction…. right?) Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way.

Example, if you want to fit into a smaller dress size, thinking that you’re going to eat healthy and exercise wouldn’t cut it. The best thing to do is to set-up a system for you to achieve it.

E.g. how much do you really wanna go down, what exact exercises would get you to the shape you want, what food types works best for your body type and lastly, how many times exactly should you go to the gym (or swim, jog or whatever else you do), how many cheat meals can you have, what days would be the exercise days, what time of the day, etc,

So that on a day to day basis, the only thing you need to do worry about is sticking to the gym day, sticking to the cheat meal day, sticking to the 3 times/week cardio days and without even realising it, you’ve gone down a couple of sizes already.

But make it a system that works for you and just focus on following the tiny steps in it.

4.       Your environment can work for you or against you

Having visual queues to make you succeed is as important as setting the system. This is where things like vision boards come into play.

Having a picture of a dress you would like to wear or photos of the exact hotel room you’d like to go on holiday for, a photo of the exact model of the car you want to buy helps your subconscious keep things real.

While this may seem silly, visual queues play a big part of everything we achieve in general. I’ve done a detailed post on this earlier. Having a supportive environment is crucial to your success.

E.g. coming from a family where everyone overeats increases the chances of being unhealthy and unfit. On the other hand, having a partner who’s a gym junkie, always helps you stay in the game for longer.

This may require you to either make changes to your current environment or even abandon the current one entirely and more into a new one.

So make sure you have your environment working for you and not against you.

5.       Overestimating Your Motivation

Motivation to get to any goal is great. But motivation by itself would not get you anywhere. It will only get you so far.

This is where you need to adjust all your habits/lifestyle and when you do something for at least 30 days, you have a better chance of achieving your goal even at times that you don’t feel very motivated.

Let’s be honest, even a gym junkie has days that they ‘don’t feel like’ going to the gym. Even a workaholic has days that they ‘don’t feel like’ going to work.

But you do it, out of habit and because it’s about WHO YOU ARE as a person. So redefine who you are with related to the goal and nothing will be able to stop you.

6.       Taking Celebrations for Granted

This is such a simple concept that we overlook all the time. But celebrating small wins is a way we can give a pat on the back and have something we can look forward to along the way rather than wait for 365 days to celebrate our big goal. So why not, set some small milestones that you can look forward to?

Like go to your favourite junk food restaurant when you stick to the system for 3 months, go for a massage when you stick to doing a video a day for 1 month, or whatever that makes you happy. This way, you always have something to look forward to and celebrate and give that extra boost of confidence and motivation.

Bonus Tip: Be aware of goals that are a means to an end. As these kinds of goals could get you into a lot of trouble in the long run if you’re not aware of them.

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There it is. Alright…I know I said 5, but I couldn’t help writing the 6th.

That is all for now. There’s so much more I can talk about goal setting, but I think this gives you a good start for now without overwhelming too much.

Remember, start small and get into the habit of winning and in no time you would be winning every time.

(Know anyone who’s struggeling to keep up with their life goals? Please share this post. It’s free and damn good :))

XO,  💖💖
V.
P.S. If your one thing is to be coached by me – in a community of talented high performers – then Click Here.