7 Steps to Resolution Success

I read from Eldon Taylor's Intouch newsletter on some basic steps to defy the odds and actually keep your resolutions. I've made a resolution this year, actually a few months before 2010, something i want to make a deep concious effort to achieve. It's not about losing weight or exercise more or finding a partner and settle down. These are resolutions my friends know about. It's a difficult decision, something which i had previously decided, executed, broke many times over and struggled internally, which only my diary and i know. It's time. I shall succeed this round. I hope..


Here's the article:

7 Steps to Resolution Success
Resolution Solutions


".... Let's say that on New Year's day you sit for a while contemplating the past year and the new year and you decide that you want to finally stop smoking, or lose weight, or manage you money better, or build stronger personal relationships, ad infinitum. Go ahead and make the resolution,
but don't attempt to begin immediately!


Instead of beginning immediately, follow these seven proven steps.


1. First give the idea some real thought. Do not just grab all the standard resolutions like lose weight, stop smoking, find a partner, etc. Instead think long and hard about what is really important to you and do not take on too many in one go.


2. Make a plan. What must you do in order to achieve your goal? Break this down into smaller steps and layout a reasonable time table for each of the steps.


3. Do a tally sheet listing in one column the pluses and in another minuses to your resolution. Make sure the pluses outweigh the minuses.


4. Change the context. For example, if cigarettes are your friend in your mind then understand that this is absolutely untrue. Read about the harmful effects, the addiction process, the deliberate aims of the tobacco companies to enslave you, the cost of smoking and so forth. Put
the proper context around your goal.


5. Make a mental movie. Image what everything will be like when you are successful. If it's smoking cessation, then see yourself free--really free. If it's a better body image, see yourself as you look in the mirror with great pride about your accomplishment. Image how you will feel, how you will smell, how you will look, the pride you will have and so on. Imagine in detail and put it into action. See yourself in your workplace, after work, at home, at play and so on.


6. Rehearse in your mind the image of you as successful in your goal. Rehearse it daily at least once.


7. Use some technology to assist. We think of our InnerTalk technology as the resolution solution because it changes the way you talk to yourself and thereby your self expectation, making change possible from the inside out. If you don't have access to technology, use affirmations. Write them in first person and then repeat them morning, noon and night.


..."


I'm really looking forward to 2010. I hope everyone will have the best year ever in 2010. :)





















P/s: And btw, i'm quite pleased with myself, i run 8.5Km this week. It's normally 3-4 km each time when i just started in Nov. Yesterday i skipped to a new level, slow but continuous. I'm quite proud of myself. hee! :)