Be stronger than the excuses – a lot is possible then
We all know these resolutions at the beginning of a new year. We want to do more exercise, eat healthier and have a better work - life balance. The problem is, latest when Easter is approaching, we fell back into our old habits and all our resolutions are forgotten again until December. Now, few of us really bring about change in their life if they want to, the question is, why is this the case and how can we be one of them?
It all starts with knowing what we want to change first. To say that we just want to quit smoking however is too easy. We need to set a precise goal for ourselves that is sustainable and measurable for us in an easy way. It is almost like we are entering into a contract with ourselves that makes us commit and responsible for achieving or not achieving a certain goal after a set period. For example, it makes a difference in saying “I want to do more exercise” or to say, “My goal is to do one class at the gym a week”. The second goal is way more specific, and the outcome can be measured.
One we have set out goals and know what we want to change, we must get our priorities straight. All of us only have a certain number of hours a day, but in those we have to priorities what is important to us to do and achieve. Is it more important to go for a drink after work than do our one gym class a day? This is also why we need to set ourselves realistic goals, as things of course happen in our lives all the time. Three gym classes a week might therefore not be very realistic to achieve.
A third factor is once we have our goals and priorities straight, to kill all the excuses. We all can come up with a thousand excursuses on why we should not go to the gym or eat healthier, however, all of those will not lead to us achieving our set goals and bringing about real change. Those excuses express negativity and have the opposite effect of moving us ever further away from achieving our goals. We therefore have to kill the excuses in our head.
One effective way to do so is to constantly remind ourselves of our goals and priorities. Those constant reminders will keep our motivation high and build up a little pressure of keeping on track with our journey to bring about change. Another powerful tool here is imagination and reminding ourselves who we are doing this for. We should imagine the world if we would achieve this one goal that is so important to us. Imagine a world where we for example are that fit beautiful looking individual, we would like to be by doing more exercise. That image should constantly be in our head and work against the easy way-out excuses. This way, we will associate our goals with a positive outcome and realize that achieving those goals and not giving in on excuses will have better consequences for us in the end in any way. It will make us happier and more content even if it seems easier to go for the excuses not to change anything.
Bringing about real change is hard. We need to be able to establish precise goals, set priorities and be open for a new journey. Most important, we should not give in to fear, excuses, and negativity as all of those will prevent change to come about that will make us more fulfilled and happier in our lives in the end. Excuses are always the easy way – lets try go for the hard one to get more content with ourselves and our achievements, so that we belong to the group that does fulfill their resolutions.
