New year, new life, new me! How many times have you said so? If you’re like most people, you probably have set big goals around New Year’s Eve year after year. After that, you are motivated and stick to your goals for the first month. As January progresses, the motivation slowly dissipates, fuelled by excuses and lack of motivation. And by the time February rolls around, you give up on your resolutions. Sounds familiar?

 

If you’re like most people, this should sound totally familiar. Want to know why? A whopping 80% of New Year’s resolutioners give up their goals within THE FIRST WEEK of February

 

But not this time, my friend. If you are determined to make 2022 the year you leave behind the excuses and finally achieve your weight loss, health, and self-mastery goals, this article is just what you need, so keep reading to find an easy process to make 2022 your year.

 

“Everything begins from the mind, including change. So, if you want to alter your life, you have to start with your mindset.” 

– Alexi Weaver

 

Mindset is everything. Every change, every idea that comes to fruition, and every project begins in your head. Then it is up to you whether you continue to pursue it or not. 

Most individuals may identify with this because it’s easy to find motivation when you’ve just set a fresh and interesting goal. But once you realise that the goal should become part of your lifestyle, it’s not as easy to stay motivated. 

Change is always difficult, and to make long term changes, you must create sustainable habits. However, we often struggle to establish a structure that helps us to build positive habits because we rely too much on motivation. 

Unfortunately, motivation cannot be your main fuel. You must view it as a sprint because long-term change depends on other factors, especially self-discipline, resilience, and consistency. But how can you stay motivated all year round?

Five strategies to achieve your goals in 2022

Here are five tips that will help you stick to your New Year’s resolutions throughout 2022, regardless of whether you are motivated or not.

  1. Work on your Mindset

If you truly want to succeed, focus on your mindset. A mindset is the frame of reference through which you view a problem. When it comes to staying motivated and focused on achieving your resolutions, consider two concepts: cultivating a growth mindset and avoiding a fixed attitude, where you believe your current position is unchangeable.

People with a growth mindset can succeed even if things go wrong. Whereas people with a fixed mindset feel that their intrinsic abilities are predetermined, and they cannot change even if they want to. On the other hand, individuals with a growth mindset know that they can adapt and expand through hard work and dedication.

When you cultivate a growth mindset, it is easier to keep working toward your goals even when you face obstacles because you know you can achieve what you set yourself to do. But how can you shift from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset?  

  • Cultivate a positive attitude: to cultivate a growth mindset, you must believe you can improve. When you win small battles, such as accomplishing smaller goals, you show yourself you can achieve things. This gives you the confidence and motivation you need to work on bigger goals.
  • Tune out the inner enemy: the way you talk to yourself plays a huge role in your actions. Change your internal dialogue. If you tell yourself that you are not good enough, start saying you are capable of improvement. If you’re too negative with yourself, at first, this may seem like you’re lying to yourself, but if you continue doing this over time, you’ll notice the difference. 
  • Meditate: Meditation helps increase resilience and your ability to deal with problems and get up after falling. So give it a try, you don’t lose anything, and you’ll find it makes you more mentally and physically alert and able to take care of yourself.
  1. Don’t rely on Motivation

Motivation comes and goes, so relying solely on motivation is a recipe for failure. Instead, develop more self-discipline to set yourself up for success. Being disciplined is not something you are born with; it is a habit that is acquired over time. So, to develop discipline, like with almost any other thing, you need to work on it. Here are my top hassle-free tips to developing self-discipline:

  • Plan your wins ahead of time. 
  • Write down your goals on paper. Studies show this helps the brain create a vision in your mind of how you want to be in the future.
  • Celebrate your wins. Celebrating your wins, no matter how small, enhances motivation. Simply recording progress in some way helps to boost self-confidence and help build future successes.
  1. Remove temptations.

Nobody is perfect, so there is nothing wrong with assuming your weak spots (such as triggering foods, watching too much TV, sleeping late, etc.) to be aware of them so that you know how to cope with this. For instance,  if you want to eat healthy, get rid of junk food in your house or, if you want to be more productive at work, mute your notifications, etc. 

You’ll be surprised how much easier it will be to accomplish your goals if you remove temptations. A good method is to create an IF/THEN plan. Let’s say you hate going to the gym, but to be in shape, you have to exercise regularly. So, IF you don’t want to go to the gym THEN find something to look forward to during or after your exercise routine, like watching your favourite show.

  1. Plan Ahead

Accepting failure as part of the process is not only a way to stay motivated; it can even help you achieve your long-term goal. Studies found that early failure may indicate future success. So, if you want to build the habit to exercise daily, know that there will be days when you won’t be able to show up. In that case, develop a plan B so that skipping a workout doesn’t have to be a “failure”, but rather something you planned for. This will keep you motivated to “make up” for that lost session but healthily for your mental health’s sake.

  1. Set smaller goals 

Forget New Year’s resolutions; better set smaller goals. Using the new year as an excuse to completely renew your life can be overwhelming. Instead of making big changes in your life, identify the goals that you would like to continue improving on a daily, monthly, quarterly or annual basis. Divide larger resolutions into smaller and easier goals to achieve.

To Recap

It can be difficult to stay committed to your goals when the magic of the new year begins to fade. But with the right tools, you can stay motivated and consistent long-term. And while we can all relate to losing interest in our New Year’s resolutions as time passes, these methods will keep you focused on your objectives in the long run, and before you notice it, you’ll be able to enjoy the results in 2022.