We are a week into 2020.  How are you doing on your new year goals? 

Studies show that most people only keep their new year goals about 12 days into the new year.  If that statistic is true, most people will quit within the next week.  Just 8% of people achieve their new year’s goals, while around 80% fail to keep their New Year’s resolutions. 

Why do so many people fail to achieve their new year goals? 

Unrealistic expectations are probably the biggest reason resolutions fail.  People set big bold goals which is a good thing but they don’t set a realistic game plan to get there. 

Well I do not want you to be one of the 80% that fail to reach their goals. 

Here are a few tips to keep you on track to reach your goals:
1.  Break your goal down into smaller intermediate benchmarks. 
If your goals seems too big, overwhelming or it takes too long to achieve, you will give up.  Break your goal down to smaller goals and then reward yourself when you reach them.  For example, if your goal is to lose 10 pounds in 6 months, break that down.  Set an intermediate goal of losing 2 pounds the first month.  That is more manageable and them when you reach that, reward yourself (not with ice cream or anything that is counterproductive).  Then set an new goal for the next month and so on and so on.      

2.  Find ways to substitute “bad” habits for better ones
Last year I said I wanted to drink more water.  After about a week, I feel back into my normal of drinking hot tea in the morning, not drinking much during the day and then grabbing a glass of wine at night.  One day my 9 year old, Jade said “Mommy, why don’t you drink water instead of wine”.  Out of the mouths of babes.  That seemed like such a simple answer but I loved my wine at night.  Then I thought about it.  It wasn’t as much about the taste of the wine as it was about the feeling of relaxing with a wine glass in my hand.  I realized that I had glamorized drinking wine at night.  For some reason I had this picture of a high achieving woman coming home from a long day at work.  Kind of like Olivia Pope.   

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So when I realized it was more about the mindset then it was actually drinking of the wine, I started putting my water in a wine glass and I got my daily water intake in. 

3.  Get an Accountability partner. 
Now you have heard me say this before, but that is because IT WORKS!!!  Having someone to push you, motivate you and sometimes even shame you into sticking to your goals is important.  Get someone who is like-minded. Someone you know will be tough on you but also be able to encourage you.  Then schedule regular check in on your goal so that you ensure that accountability.