8 Tips to Transform Your Goals into Reality!

by Phyllis Staff, Ph.D.

It takes more than willpower to turn your goals into reality. A psychologist examines the reason most fail and offers tips to make resolutions work.

Recent surveys show that most New Year's resolutions hit the dumpster before February. Survey respondents blame stress, lack of motivation, lack of time, and a failure of willpower for their poor results.

Just a Lack of Willpower?

But it is really just a lack of willpower or commitment that causes resolutions to fail? Were people who set goals for self-improvement simply not sincere?

No. It takes more than motivation, commitment, and willpower to carry out resolutions -- whether they're made at the new year or not. Most resolutions fail because support systems were not in place at the start.

Much human behavior runs on autopilot. It's an efficient tool that keeps people from having to examine every action they take. For example, they know how to drive a car. And, every once in a while, they arrive safely at their destination without being aware of what they did to get there. They've been running on autopilot.

Resolutions are simply behaviors not yet programmed into human autopilots. Until they are, people need a support system to make sure that they keep on practicing the new behavior.

8 tips to keep resolutions alive until new behaviors run on autopilot

1. Write down resolutions (goals) and the specific results carrying them out will bring.

Writing down goals helps firm up your commitment to those goals.

2. Set daily and weekly mini-goals, and write them down as well.

Every evening, write down results such as goals accomplished and the feelings associated with those accomplishments. Do that for weekly goals, too.

3. Create support rituals.

For example, if exercising five times each week is the goal, run through a mental checklist the night before to make sure that equipment and clothing are together in a special place. They'll be ready to go first thing in the morning.

4. Find a support buddy who is also working toward a goal.

Set up regular meetings to review each other's progress. Be generous with compliments and suggestions. Bury criticism in the backyard, and leave it there.

5. Keep rewards small and frequent.

The most effective reward are nothing more than a mental "pat on the back" or "attagirl." Large rewards distract from the pleasure of achieving goals. Rewards too far in the future may have little or no power to reward new behaviors.

6. Don't beat yourself up over a failure.

Self-criticism and making excuses for failure to achieve a goal do more harm than good. Far better is to plan how to avoid such failures -- and proceed.

7. Be alert for stealthy saboteurs.

Saboteurs often lurk behind the mask of kindness. Maybe a spouse keeps the candy bowl loaded and overflowing. Maybe watching TV has developed a couch potato. Maybe the real cause is self-sabotage.

Root out sabotage. Often, simply being aware of the sabotage will defuse it.

8. Work on only one goal at a time.

Practice it until it becomes a habit before tackling another. After six weeks or so, the new behavior will become habitual.

With a little planning and regular attention, this can be the year those great resolutions become reality.

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