Achieving your goals in 2012- Resolutions to Success!

Setting goals- making a commitment to yourself this New Year!
Happy New Year!
When the ball drops on January 1, 2012, the resolutions begin! They usually begin with good intentions but end with promises for the following year. If you find it difficult to keep your new year’s resolutions, try these steps to help you reach your goal!
• Score goals! 

o What do you think of when you think about a goal? Can you picture a soccer player kicking a ball into a net, or the placekicker of your favorite football team scoring the winning field goal of the big game? Now think of our resolutions as goals and instead of dreading the thought of accomplishing your resolution, you can think of working your way to the goal and scoring! The mind is a powerful tool and how we think about things influences how we react to them. Think about how you feel when your favorite teams scores and wins? Wouldn’t it feel even better if you felt that way about yourself?

• Win-Win!
o An important aspect of “scoring a goal” is the immediate and recognizable satisfaction of achievement. Let’s face it, we are a nation of immediate gratification. Instead of fighting or bemoaning that reality, accept it and make it work for you. So when the placekicker scores, the points can make a real difference. So what are going to be your points? How about trying something like this: If your goal is to lose weight (i.e., win the game), your real goals are the things you do to “win!” Set up to jars. In one jar, place a dollar or two for every week you don’t drink soda. In the other jar, put a dollar or two (the “points” of each have to be the same) each week you have a soda. At the end of the year, see which jar has more. If the jar for weeks without soda has more, you get to keep all the money and spend it any way you want. If the jar for weeks with soda has more, you have to give all your money to an organization you don’t support or a person you don’t like. If your jar with soda is empty, guess what, you most likely lost weight too (you could lose 1 pound per week by cutting three soda’s out of your daily diet, that’s 52 pounds in a year, maybe more, especially if you got some exercise and controlled how much you ate).

• Can’t score goals without teamwork!

o Just like in football, soccer and any other sport, winning takes teamwork. Let your friends and family know about your goals. Find a motivating partner. Find someone that you can motivate as well so you both of have skin in the game. Or join a support group such as DiabetesFresno, Fresno's only free Type 2 diabetes support group open to everyone (meets the 2nd Saturday of every month at 11am at avecinia wellness center, call 559-450-7299 for more information).   Celebrate with your friends/support group/team when you “win!”

• Write your goals down, make a game plan!
o Your favorite sports team doesn’t win its games without a strategy, a game plan. Writing down your goals, and the steps you will take to achieve them, helps you visualize your achievement, gives you something to remind you of your goals, and helps you clear your mind because you don’t have to perpetually think about your goals. You can also use your written goals as a road map/checklist. It’s important that your goals be clear, and the steps that you will take to achieve your goal be doable/actionable. Use your written goals as a scorecard.
Use the worksheet below to help you track your achievements and reach your goals!

Although setting your achieving your goals sounds like playing a game, it is the most important game of your life because winning means achieving a better life for yourself. So January 1st the clock will start ticking, are you ready to win?

Goal tracking worksheet:

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