According to research, over 80% of people fail to meet their New Year’s resolutions or goals, as soon as the second week of February. Setting new Year’s resolutions can feel like an exciting and promising experience, yet when they do not happen, it might make you feel disempowered or hopeless.
There are numerous reasons why people fail to meet their yearly promises, the main reason being that they did not have a good strategy in place to reach their goals.
So the problem is, how can you set New Year’s resolutions that actually stick? What can you do to create a successful strategy that will help you achieve your goals, so you can feel a sense of accomplishment?
Hopefully, this article can help you discover some secrets to achieving any New Year’s resolutions, whether it be to save energy, reduce costs, or losing weight. Keep on reading to get started!
1. Break It Down
When looking at your goals, it is important to not only dream big but to also be able to break down the goal into bite-sized, digestible steps. Otherwise, it will feel overwhelming not knowing where to start, and your dream could remain to be only a dream.
Take each goal and turn it into a mind-map of smaller milestones on a piece of paper. From there, break each of those projects down into simple steps.
For example, if your goal is to save costs on your energy bills or reduce your environmental impact, start by getting a free energy audit to calculate your savings potential. Then start by making small adjustments, getting used to those changes, and then make new ones.
2. Make Saving Energy one of your new Year’s Resolutions. Here is why?
It is one thing to set a good goal, and it is another to know exactly why you want to set it in the first place. For example, if your goal is to lose weight, a number really doesn’t mean much in comparison to losing that weight because you want to be able to keep up with your children.
Begin with asking yourself “why” with every single goal you have, then continue to ask why until you get to the root motivator behind your goals.
3. You can achieve your new year’s resolutions: Declare It Out Loud
While setting your goals, once you know your reasons why and you have a bit of a plan, you need to declare it out loud. Many people skip this step because they fear that they will look foolish if they do not achieve it.
This one factor is enough to prevent you from reaching your New Year’s resolutions because declaring your goals is a powerful experience. This holds you accountable to everyone you tell.
Start by telling your friends and family about your goals and ask them for accountability. Then you can hold them accountable for their goals as well.
4. Celebrate the Victories
When setting large goals, it can feel like it may be light years away until you can achieve them. This makes it hard to notice where you are currently at and each step you accomplish that brings you closer to your new year’s resolutions.
Instead, focus on celebrating each small step that you accomplish that gets you closer. For example, if your goal is to cut carbon emissions, focus on celebrating each little change along the way. These small victories will help you to realize that you really are making a difference. In this sense, a smart personalized tool as EnerWisely’s dashboard can help you track your progress and your successes.
5. Set Intentions
Creating goals is one thing and setting the intentions behind your goals is even more powerful. Sure, you can have a goal for an energy transition in your household, but that may not be enough to cause you to stick to it.
Instead, focus on what the intention is behind that goal. The same is true when it comes to your new year’s resolutions. Perhaps it is to save the rainforest or to help with reducing carbon emissions, or maybe it is to cut costs so that you can take your family on a vacation.
The intention is much more effective because it becomes a part of who you are, not just what you do.
6. To Reach your New Year’s Resolutions, Create New & Empowered Habits
As Albert Einstein famously said, “the definition of insanity is repeating the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. Creating new, easy, and fun, but also empowering habits that support your goals, will help you reach your New Year’s resolutions.
For example, to improve energy efficiency or save money on your electric bills, start paying familiarizing yourself with what are the biggest energy suckers at home or in your business. A free online assessment of your energy usage using EnerWisely can provide this information for free and within minutes. This could be something as simple as unplugging certain appliances while not using them, adjusting the setpoints in your air conditioning system, or using more energy-efficient light bulbs.
7. Be Easy on Yourself & Enjoy the journey
Setting goals and New Year’s resolutions don’t have to feel like a lot of pressure and weight on your shoulders. Reaching your goals can be an enjoyable and rewarding experience. Be easy on yourself. This is especially important as setbacks are inevitable along your journey.
Set an intention for self-compassion. This will help you to be easier on yourself if you have any slip-ups or fallbacks from your goals. Allow yourself to make mistakes and opportunities to get back on track. Setbacks can always be opportunities to learn and become stronger.
8. Stick to It
According to research, a new habit can take anywhere between 3 weeks to 66 days. While creating new habits might feel like a little bit of work in the beginning, once you cross the threshold it can become second nature. That’s why it is important to have the proper support system in place to increase your chances of success.
The good news is that we live in a world that allows us to track steps, calories, and almost anything. Now thanks to EnerWisely you have a free and easy way to track & improve your energy goals. Let 2021 be the year to stop waste, improve your energy efficiency and cut your carbon footprint!
Learn More About Setting Effective New Year’s Resolutions
There you have it! By reading this guide to setting effective New Year’s resolutions, you are well on your way to achieving your goals.
Remember, big things start with small steps. Celebrate each one of them as progress towards your destination & enjoy the journey.
If you found this article helpful and are ready to cut your energy costs and take action towards your climate impact, sign up to EnerWisely for free and get your Energy Efficiency Assessment today.
