Summary: When the facts tell you that <a href="http://www.statisticbrain.com/new-years-resolution-statistics/">92%</a> of New Year’s resolutions fail, you know that there’s a problem. Yet, 45% of Americans look over this fact and spend time thinking up new ones every year. Well, I’m tired of seeing this happen year after year, so that’s why episode eighty-nine is on New Year’s Resolutions. As a life coach I have found that some things work, and other things don’t, and I want to tell you what I’ve found.<br> So, here are the six top reasons that New Year’s resolutions don’t work:<br> <br> Most people aren’t very specific.<br> The top five New Year’s resolutions are lose weight, get organized, spend less and save more, enjoy life to the fullest, and staying fit and healthy. As you can see, people aren’t very specific with their resolutions. This is where goals differ from resolutions. Use <a href="http://asmithblog.com/goals-that-get-results/">SMART goals</a> to help you stay on track in the future, and see the difference that well-thought-out goals differ from writing the first thoughts that come to your mind.<br> Most people don’t find their why.<br> You need a reason to why you are pursuing your goals. What’s the reason behind the reason? Why do you want to lose weight? Why do you want to get more organized? Why do you need to spend less and save more? Why do you want to enjoy life to the fullest? Why do you want to stay fit and healthy? Yes, all of these things would make life easier, but why is that important to you? Your answers to this question should be tied into your goal to remind you why you are pursuing it in the first place, because if you forget the reason, you’ll likely quit before seeing the finish line.<br> There aren’t many people who have found passion.<br> This point ties perfectly into the last point, because once you know your why, you have what you need to begin your pursuit. This is the main reason that only eight percent of people complete their New Year’s resolutions. These people don’t know why they want what they want, and so they don’t have their fuel to push them forward. If your goal is to just go to the gym, you first need to tie it to the facts that it will help you lose weight and keep it off, make you feel better, give you more energy, make your thinking process more effective, relieve stress, better your heart health, extend your day, and will ultimately help you live longer. Now, that’s something we can all get passionate about.<br> There are many people who aren’t realistic.<br> If you want to run a marathon, that’s great. I do, too. But it would be unrealistic to think that you can go and run a marathon without first being able to run a mile. This podcast episode is centered around health, as it is the top resolution that people have, but each principle here applies to whatever goal you are chasing. If you take anything away from this point, it should be that you need to put the necessary work in before you can expect to see success.<br> I wouldn’t focus on your goal of losing 40 pounds, but I would focus on losing ten. I wouldn’t fast meals entirely, but I would cut out the foods that will help you lose weight. Remember, we need to look at what you will realistically do here. Again, this is pertaining to your health, but it also applies to other things. I wouldn’t focus on becoming a millionaire without first paying off all of your debt. I also wouldn’t focus on getting organized until you get rid of everything you don’t want first.<br> Without preparation you will only come up short on your goals, which leads to bigger amounts of frustration than anyone needs to deal with. When this happens, not finding success seems like failure, but it’s really a lack of preparation.
