EP215 Did you Quit? - Reflecting on Resolutions and Crushing Goals

Hello, Bold Goal Crushers. I'm super excited about this episode today because we're going to talk about Quitter's Day. So did you quit your resolutions by last Friday or are you still on track or have you not even started because you didn't set resolutions because you believed all the hype that resolutions don't work? 

You may be in one of three of those, one of those three buckets and I want to start off by saying resolutions get a bad rap, but I encourage everybody to set resolutions because resolutions truly are habits. They are things that you are resolving to do or not do. And habits don't get a bad rap, but because we call them resolutions and most people have a difficult time actually achieving them. 

Resolutions do get a bad rap. In fact, only 8 percent of people actually accomplish their resolutions. So I hope if you set resolutions, you really think about how those resolutions tie into your bigger goal and how they will help you do things or not do things. So do things that get you closer to the goal or not do things that keep you from achieving the goal. 

Now, I don't know which camp you're in, one, the camp that is still on track with resolutions or the camp that has fallen off, or the camp that hasn't even set resolutions. If you're in the latter. Where you haven't even set resolutions or habits, I encourage you to do that this year. You all know from listening that I do all of the things I set resolutions, pick a word, pick a theme, set goals, and create action plans. 

But I do it in this order. I start with my goals and then for my goals, I create my action plan and that's how I pick my theme. And then when I pick my theme and my word of the year. Then I go in and I set resolutions. What are the habits I want to create? Or what are the things I don't want to do to ensure that I meet these goals? 

And then I create my vision board. So I'm coming to you on Quitter's day, January 12th. Some people say it's the 17th, but it's usually the second Saturday. Of the month of January. So I want you, if you are in camp one, where you are still on track, I want you to give yourself a round of applause because you truly are doing the stuff so that you can accomplish your goals and applause to you because you are in the 8 percent now you're in on track to really achieve your resolutions. 

But there will come a day when you miss a day or you miss one thing that you were supposed to do, and then you'll find yourself in the second group, the group that wasn't able to uphold their resolutions. But that doesn't make you a quitter. What makes you a quitter is when you give up and you abandon that goal altogether. 

That makes you a quitter. So you don't have to be a quitter if you've not done everything since you started your resolution. There's a whole psychology around resolutions and the psychological factors that go, that contribute to quitting. And many times the reason that we're not able to hold our resolutions or habits is because we have unrealistic expectations of ourselves or what we can accomplish. 

So we say things like I will work out every day. Is that realistic? Or I will read for an hour every day. Is that really realistic? And I know I don't like to do realistic in goal setting because I like our dreams and our goals to be lofty. I don't like to say is that goal realistic or not because I don't want to shrink down that dream. But when you get into habits or resolutions and you get into the action of achieving your goal, you do need to be realistic. You do need to take a look at the other things going on in your environment. And many times the resolutions or the habits that you have set are not realistic. 

And so it's okay to not have a perfect score. Like on the attendance chart, I think about when we were kids, when we got little stars, it's okay not to have a perfect score. It's just like at work, you have sick days for a reason because they expect that you will get sick throughout the year. So you don't get mad that, Oh, I got sick. Maybe you do, but you shouldn't because you have those sick days for a reason. So I think it's important to also remember that motivation, discipline, mindset, and resources. I'll say that again, motivation, discipline, mindset, and resources all play a role in the achievement of your goals. 

So if you're not motivated about your habits or resolutions or your goals, it will be more difficult for you to stick with those things as the year progresses. If you are not disciplined and you don't. Really focus on it and if you don't put it in your calendar, it'll be more difficult. If you don't have the mindset to get through the roadblocks that will come when you set, try and set and achieve your goals, you will have a more difficult time actually achieving your resolutions. 

And if you don't have the resources and you don't know how to go find those resources when you. Encounter a challenge, you will not have an easy time meeting your habits, but that doesn't make you a quitter. You need to develop the muscle so that as you encounter these obstacles you know what you will encounter. 

So if you decide you want to read every day for an hour, but you have young kids, maybe back that down a little bit. maybe be okay if you don't do that for one day. And so I think it's really important to remember that. It's really about getting back on your habit on your resolution when you fall off rather than just staying on it because what that doesn't teach you is how to overcome those obstacles which are going to come when you're setting goals. 

So I encourage you to reflect on the resolutions that you set and really evaluate your progress and maybe make adjustments. And. I'd like to recommend if you haven't picked up a habit tracker, I encourage you to do that. I do sell some in my Amazon store. If you go to my page, sarahmayer. com under favorite things, you'll find that we created it for you. 

My team created it for you. So Check that out and that's a great way. Keep track of those habits and celebrate that you are tracking it. It's also a great way for it to reflect back to you how often you are doing the things that you set out to do for your resolutions and habits. And I also remind you that you don't need to have a habit that's every day. 

So I had a client once that she knew that she wanted to work out three times a week. And so what she did to make it really visible and to keep herself accountable is she put three circles on a piece of paper, taped it to the back of her front door. And then every day, as she walked out the door, she saw that, but she had a rule on Sunday. 

If she had not marked off those circles with the date, she would do all the workouts in one day. So it actually happened one week when Sunday rolled around. She hadn't done her workouts in order to keep the commitment to herself. She decided to go for a bike, a run, and a swim. She basically did a triathlon in one day. 

What happened? She never did that again because it wasn't easy and it wasn't hard. It was hard. It was hard and it was harder to do that than to figure out how to do that during the week. And so I want to encourage you to not only keep track of your habits but also to Find a way to make them visible and then to put in some accountability measures. 

So maybe it's that piece of paper on your door. Maybe it's a weekly accountability call. Maybe it's just a time in your schedule during the week when you sit down and reflect. And I think that's where you are going to be able to really ensure that you are staying on track with your resolutions and habits and not become a quitter. 

There are many types of obstacles that you're going to encounter throughout goal setting and it's really about just keeping going. So I invite you to truly think about why those habits or resolutions, we're going to use those words interchangeably, what habits or resolutions truly should be a part of your daily life. 

And if you can't find out why, they're probably not the right resolutions. All right, everyone, I hope that you have set resolutions and you are on track. And if you're not, I encourage you to do it. I encourage you to track it and I encourage you to celebrate your progress. So often we're so hard on ourselves. 

So celebrate your process. We are in the middle of the New Year party. So if you haven't joined the New Year party, it's not too late. And we hope to see you crushing your goals and everything that gets in the way. So you don't have to work double time. So let's get to it. Happy New Year, everyone. 

Thank you for tuning into the bold goal crusher podcast where we crush goals and everything that gets in the way. I always love to support my community. I look forward to seeing you crush your goals this year. 

In this blog post, we dive into the concept of resolutions and the challenges many people face in maintaining them. We explore how resolutions can be seen as habits and discuss the importance of setting realistic expectations and being adaptable in our pursuit of goals. Additionally, we offer tips for tracking habits, making them visible, and finding accountability measures to stay on track. Ultimately, the goal is to encourage readers to reflect on their resolutions, make adjustments if necessary, and celebrate their progress, all while maintaining a positive mindset. 

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