Top 10 New Year Resolutions – Are Yours On The List?

Do you make a resolution on New Year’s Eve? If so, you’re in good company! Forty five percent of Americans make New Year’s Resolutions, and there are a few repeat offenders every January first!

In fact, as we go through the list of the top-10 New Year Resolutions, if you are like most folks, you will most likely notice a handful of resolutions that you (either with or without success) attempted to accomplish in the past.

10) Finish that around the house “to-do” list.
9) Read more.
8) Get organized.
7) Save Money.
6) Volunteer.
5) Better work/life balance.
4) Quit smoking.
3) Learn something new.
2) Drink less alcohol.

and the #1 resolution is:
1) Lose weight.

Now - the nice part about a new year resolution is that if you didn’t get around to something last year, you get to add it to your list for this coming year.  However, the problem that most people have is that they keep adding the same exact things year after year or worse yet – they failed at it so many times in the past that they don’t even bother trying anymore.

So how can you accomplish your goal(s) this coming year?

Back when I managed a marketing firm, the company I worked for loved management training.  I took management courses and training every month or so. To be honest, some of what we learned was pretty worthless, but one element has stuck with me, and that’s how to create an reachable goal. A goal – or a New Year’s resolution – is much more likely to succeed if it is FAST:

Flexible – If you’re not able to meet your goal, how will you adapt?
Attainable – How are you going to achieve this? Do you have a plan?
Specific – With a specific goal you know when you’re on the right track.
Timed - Set a time limit or better yet - set smaller mini-goals every few months.

So, how can you use "FAST" to make your New Year’s resolutions successful? Let’s look at the #1 resolution: Lose weight:

• Make it flexible – The main thing to understand about goals is that they should be adjustable - so this part might happen on-the-fly.  For example, if you hurt your ankle in February, you might be off your feet for a while.  Therefore, you can be flexible by adjusting your goal for the year or trying to make up the lost time by exercising more once you’re on your feet again. Flexibility stops real life problems from derailing your whole plan.

• Make it attainable – Losing 100 pounds by January 15th is not very realistic.  Therefore, set a goal that you can truly live with.  For example, - "I will lose five pounds by March 1st, and I’ll do that by walking for 30 minutes a day."

• Make it specific – Losing weight is not really a goal because it is wide open to interpretation.  For example, are you looking to lose 1 pound or 100 pounds this year?  Instead make it specific - "I want to lose 20 pounds by by 2015."

• Make it timed –  While the ultimate goal may be 20 pounds in a year, you need to break up the timing for how you intend to reach this long-term goal - "I want to lose five pounds by March 1ts, five more by June 1st, five more by September 1st, and five more by December 1st."

So as you can see, when you approach your New Year resolution with a plan of action, you are more likely to reach your desired goal.  One final thing to remember is that while most people want to go it alone, there’s no shame in asking for help.  After all - when you quit smoking with the patch, you’re getting help.  When you lose weight by joining a food program or gym, you’re getting help.  When you save money by using a finance balancing software or money management company, you’re getting help.

Therefore, if you need a little help with reaching your new year goals, be sure to contact us to see if we can help cross that resolution off your list - forever!

Get Help With Your New Year Goals Now       

Top 10 New Year's Resolutions

New Year's Eve has always been a time for looking back to the past, and more importantly, forward to the future. It's a time to reflect on the changes that we want or need to make.

Sadly, it is also a time to revisit many of the same items that wanted to change from previous years, but for some reason we just never got around to accomplishing them. So, is your New Year resolution going to make the top ten list this year?

1. Spend More Time with Family and Friends
Recent polls conducted by General Nutrition Centers, Quicken, and others shows that more than 50% of Americans vow to appreciate loved ones and spend more time with family and friends this year.

2. Fit in Fitness
Studies show that most people have a genuine interest in improving their lifestyle and health habits. This explains why each and every New Year's eve, millions of people make a personal promise to take steps to becoming more fit.

3. Lose Weight
Over 66 percent of adult Americans are considered overweight or obese by recent studies, so it is not surprising to find that weight loss is one of the most popular New Year's resolutions.

4. Quit Smoking
If you have resolved to make this the year that you kick your smoking habit, you are not alone. It can take a smoker anywhere from 4 to 8 tries before they quit for good. So it's no wonder why this pops up on the New Year's resolution list more than once.

5. Enjoy Life More
Given the hectic, stressful lifestyles of millions of Americans, it is no shock that "enjoying life more" has become a popular resolution in recent years. However, it is often difficult to develop and follow any type of plan for this, which is why you may have seen this resolution on your list in past years.

6. Quit Drinking
While many people use the New Year as an incentive to finally stop drinking, most are not equipped to make such a drastic lifestyle change all at once. Many heavy drinkers fail to quit cold turkey. However, the good news is that they do much better when they taper gradually, or even learn to moderate their drinking.

7. Get Out of Debt
Was money a big source of stress in your life last year? If so, you might find some comfort in knowing that you are joining millions of other people who will also be resolving to spend this coming year getting a handle on their finances.

8. Learn Something New
Have you vowed to make this year the year to learn something new? Perhaps you are considering a career change, want to learn a new language, or just how to fix your computer? You are in good company as millions of other people will also be committing to learning something new in the coming year.

9. Help Others
Are you looking to give a little something back by helping others this coming year? Well, you might have some heavy competition because this is a very popular resolution for millions of people.

10. Get Organized
On just about every New Year resolution top ten list, organization makes the cut. Whether you want your home, office, car, or simply your entire life more organized, there are many folks who are with you on this one.

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