Setting a New Year’s resolution is easy, but the hard part is maintaining the motivation to actually achieve that resolution. If you found yourself falling short of your New Year’s goals, no worries. We have 6 tips to help you get up and bounce back from this so-called “failure.”
Reframe failure: Instead of seeing failure as a bad reflection of yourself, see it as an opportunity to learn, improve, and try again. From failure, we can reflect on what went wrong and gather vital information about our limits and strengths. On top of that, learning from your shortcomings and trying again is an act of resilience—by challenging your supposed failure, you are only building up your resiliency.
Focus on the process: When you make it about the process and not the end result, you zoom in on all the positive benefits of your efforts. It’s likely you’re learning, growing, and changing for the better, even if you fall a little short of your goal. It doesn’t have to be about the achievement itself. There’s so much in the act of getting there.
Acknowledge your strengths and weaknesses: When you analyze what went well and what didn’t, you can learn more about what your strengths are and build a new plan that plays to those strengths.
Look at how far you’ve come: Even if you didn’t achieve your goal, it’s likely you at least took some steps forward and made progress. If this is the case, acknowledge it and try to build on it. Baby steps are what really bring lasting change into our lives.
Give yourself some credit: You may think there’s nothing worth celebrating, but knowing you’re deserving of a pat on the back is a crucial step.
Set yourself up for success: During this process, you may realize your goals aren’t truly aligned with what you want. In this case, it’s okay to let them go. If you do decide to try again, there are steps you can take to ensure greater success next time around. For instance, try planning a new route towards achieving your goals that includes some of the potential road bumps you might face along the way. More realistic expectations will help you set a goal that you can actually achieve.
