Keeping Your New Year's Resolutions: Tips From a Personal Coach

Why is that only one in five people is still keeping his New Year's resolutions by March of each year? You've seen it -- the fitness center fills up to overflowing in January, but by March, the crowds have thinned considerably. Millions of people set out each year to improve their lives in some way. Sometimes it's a dramatic change in every area of their lives, sometimes it's a hoped for improvement for a better life in general.

That's part of the reason so many people feel like failures by the tenth week of each new year. When we just have "hopes" for a better life, we're living in the world of wishing. Vague hopes and general ideas of what we'd like to have in our lives often results in reaching the end of the year with nothing accomplished. Lack of action is a common reason so many of us don't reach our goals each year.

So, here are some tips for making this year different!

1. Determine WHY you want to make changes

When you assess where you'd like to be, it's important to get a clear picture of what you really want. The more specific you can be about what "success" on a resolution will look like for you, the more likely you are to achieve the result you seek. Write out a list of 10 things you'd like to be, have, or do this year; and for each one, take time to visualize what achieving the goal would look like. Then take time to think about what the payoff is for NOT changing in each area. For example, if you would like to lose 25 pounds, what's the payoff for staying just the way you are?

Making a pros and cons list for changing in each of the 10 areas will help you get clear on WHY you want to change, and on what may be keeping you from succeeding at making the desired change. If the pros don't outweigh the cons, then maybe you should take the goal off the list.

Some example areas to get you thinking: