Do you keep New Year’s resolutions? Do you make a list?

For as long as I can remember, every year I wrote down a detailed New Year’s resolution list that included my goals and the areas I needed to improve on.

I believe having resolutions are important. They give us an idea of where we are and where we want to be. They also give us a guideline and draw an overall picture of all our accomplishments and our short falls.

Usually I love to read articles on how to be more efficient and how to stay motivated to maintain my goals. However, every year seems to be different for me. Some years I manage to accomplish most of my resolutions and other years I completely fail. I am not sure how you guys manage your list of resolutions: what works for you and what doesn’t?

For me, keeping a list is important but last year I tried something a little different. I picked one word as my driving force behind every decision for 2018. The word I picked for 2018 was “ACHIEVE”.

I continuously reminded myself over and over again to use the word “achieve” in every aspect of my daily routines. Whether it was a big project or a small “to do list”, my main objective was to achieve a positive outcome for each task I started.

To let the word “achieve” lead myday and take over my actions had a significant impact on the overall accomplishment of my tasks. I was very pleased to see how a single word could change the overall mode on how we process information. All of a sudden my resolutions list was not a list anymore, it was more like a fun mission that I needed to complete in order to achieve an outcome. The accomplishment of a resolution itself felt like an achievement.

If you are like me, someone who writes down resolutions and tries your best to accomplish them before the year ends, then it won’t hurt to try something new. For me the word “achieve” made a big difference and shifted my views on how I managed my New Year’s resolutions in the most positive ways. Truth be told, it wasn’t only my resolutions but also my everyday actions.

This year I got my kids on board to join me in setting up clear, realistic, and achievable goals.  We are keeping the word “achieve” to motivate us and adding on the new word “FOCUS” to help us stay on target.

So here’s to a very focused 2019. I wish everyone a Happy and Healthy New Year and the best of luck with achieving your New Year’s resolutions and staying focused throughout the year.