We have come to the end of another year. This is a special time when we can take a breath and reflect on all of our achievements. More than that, it’s also a reminder of the resolutions we set out to tackle over the last year but in some way or another didn’t accomplish.

Setting resolutions or goals is always a great way to start off the year. However, if we don’t follow through or we go about things the wrong way they can have a negative effect on our personal and professional lives, and ultimately our success. The last thing we want is another year full of broken promises to ourselves.

But don’t fret. There are ways we can set ourselves up for success and carry us through those first few weeks of January and throughout the rest of the year to make sure we keep these new commitments.

Here are our steps to help successfully set and keep your new year’s resolutions.

1. Plan Out Your Goals

How many times have we told ourselves, “This year I’m going to lose weight” or “This year I’ll save and/or make more money.” Yet, the whole year goes by and nothing. We all know that none of this will happen overnight. Achieving your goals takes hard work, discipline, and consistency. We often set ourselves up for failure by not planning out exactly how we’ll get what we want.

The surefire way for us to achieve our goals is by taking the time to plan out each step of the process. You can start by asking yourselves these questions:

• How many weeks or months will it take to achieve? If it’s more than a few months, break it down into smaller steps.
• What books or classes should I invest my time to help achieve my goals? Don’t forget to consider how much money it will cost.
• What are things I am willing to cut out of my life to make sure they happen? This shouldn’t be limited to Happy Hour. Consider how much time you spend watching TV, playing video games, and with your social life.

We often set goals without coming up with clear processes to reach them, and that’s a sure way to fail.

2. Be Specific With Your Goals

Once you have the goals written down and you understand what it’ll take, it’s time to break them up into manageable chunks. In order to make your new year’s resolution a reality, you are going to have to get very specific about the goals. As mentioned above, if our goal is to save or earn more money, we need to figure out how much per week we need to make it a success.

Don’t place all of your focus on the short term. It’s equally as important to know what your 3-month, 6-month, and even full-year targets are. Take a minute to write down exactly what you are going to do to reach these targets and then get started.

Oprah didn’t build her empire without being extremely clear on what she wanted to achieve year after year. She famously stated, “The greatest discovery of all time is that a person can change his future by merely changing his attitude.”

In order for us to be successful and see true results, we must be precise in what we want.

3. Commit To Your Goals

This is something I truly struggle with, fully committing myself to my goals. I have no issues with coming up with new resolutions, creating a plan of action, and getting started. However, I tend to lack the discipline and consistency to stick with all my goals for an entire year and I’m sure many of you can relate.

We have too many dreams and the problem is we don’t hold ourselves accountable. Many times this comes down to just not having the guts or willingness to do what it takes to achieve our goals. Most of us don’t possess the focus of Serina Williams or Kobe Bryant.

One of the best ways we can help keep accountable is by letting the world know about our goals, rather than keeping them to ourselves. Put your ambitions out there in front of the people you would hate to disappoint the most. This could be parents, boyfriends/girlfriends, best friends, mentors, or anyone else that drives you to success.

Once we announce our goals out loud they will be harder to give up without owing some type of explanation for our failure. Choosing the right people to help hold us accountable will take away the option of giving up just for the hell of it.

If we set out goals and follow these steps in 2019 without wavering and making stupid excuses, we are guaranteed to see our dreams grow closer and closer every day.

And that is the best results we can hope for.