Kick bad habits and embrace new :

Make a fresh start

By now you would have been bombarded with many New Year greetings and will continue to receive such messages at least for another week or so. Is it really the other’s wishes that matter or your own wishes?

It’s you who allow intentions to derail – no one else.

You should try to kick bad habits and start life anew for better success. What kind of New Year Resolutions will you make for yourself for 2016 if you haven’t already made them? It almost seems like we can start all over, finally become that successful, wonderful, productive, healthy and happy person we’ve always wanted to be. However, the problem with the start of a new year is that most good intentions are often derailed within a few days or weeks.

Attitude

The trouble is, the enthusiasm to make changes, fades when we realize we can’t change everything overnight or it takes a determined effort to realize them. If you want to make lasting changes, there are three things you can do to make your resolutions work all-year long: Correct your attitude, embrace the right lifestyle and be committed to achieve the resolution.

Discomfort

Why do people abandon their resolutions halfway? One reason is that we become discouraged when results don’t come quickly enough or easily, or when we find that we are not necessarily happier because of it. Behavioral change needs sustained effort and commitment. It is also typically accompanied by physical and mental discomfort. For example, reducing food intake, working or studying longer hours and less sleep from a level to which you have become accustomed to.

Becoming a successful man is not a goal. What does this mean? How do you measure this? Resolutions also fail because they are vague and impossible to measure. One could resolve to be a nicer person, but what does that mean? How would anyone know when and whether that goal had been reached? A better resolution would be to pay a compliment to one person each day.

Make a goal that can be reached in one year. This guideline is especially important for gifted children, who have quite lofty goals, often beyond what they could achieve in one year. Of course, if a child goes beyond a goal in less than one year, that’s fine. The idea is to make sure the goal set, is not impossible to reach.

Keep track

Writing down the resolution and the plans to make it happen is important because it helps you remain focused and will serve as a reminder of the resolution. It also makes the plan more formal, not simply a passing thought on New Year’s Day.

Creating a plan and writing it down can help understand how to set goals and seek ways to achieve them.

Find alternatives to a behaviour that you want to change, and make this part of your plan. You want to quit night clubbing but you have been doing it to relax or be with friends? What other forms of relaxation are available for you? Look at the alternatives to choose those that have more positives. Not activities that have more negatives than positives.

Above all, aim at things that are truly important to you, not what you think you ought to do or what others expect of you.

After all it’s your life, your vision, goal, effort and your success that’s primary. It’s not being selfish but accepting the reality that if you fail you cannot help others.