4 Steps To Make Your New Year's Resolutions Stick

by Trevor Emdon*

Most New Year resolutions require an iron will which, even if you own one, is not likely to be in prime condition after all the Christmas revelling.

Willpower pitted against desire is just plain stressful.  You know the cream cake is bad for you, but it's still yummy.   Since the heart usually prevails over the head, it’s not too hard to see why so many resolutions are history by the third week of January.

Now, it’s a fact that we always move away from pain and towards pleasure. The key to succeeding with New Year’s resolutions therefore, is to persuade your logical mind that making the change feels good.

Bingo!  Conflict over.

Here are four steps you can take to achieve just that - and watch your resolution success rate soar.

Step 1. Make Sure You know Your Objectives

Get really clear about why you want to achieve whatever it is.  Saying you want to lose ten pounds isn't enough.  You've got to know how you'll feel when you get there.  For starters, how about proud?  Or sexy?  Or attractive?  Or athletic?  (And yes, I know there are a zillion possible resolutions you might have made that have nothing to do with your weight, but the principles are going to be the same, okay?)

Step 2. Make a Mental Horror Movie

Imagine things getting as bad as they could be - and then some!  You need to really connect with your fear of not changing because this will motivate you into taking action. 

This is the most uncomfortable step to do, but believe me, if you do this one well, you will never go back to your old ways.  It will just be too scary!  So take a few minutes and vividly create a mini "horror movie" in your mind of the worst that could happen to your health, relationships, love life, business - anything that matters to you - if you don't change.

Step 3.  Mop your brow 

Phew!  The worst is over.

Step 4.  Make a mental “feel good” movie

Make the colours bright and sunny, the feelings warm.  Play happy music in the background.  See, hear and feel people you love congratulating you, hear yourself responding how easy it all seemed.  As this glorious set of feelings reaches its peak, squeeze the thumb and tip of your middle finger of your left hand together for about two seconds. 

Release, build the feelings again, and do the little squeeze again.  Do this several more times until just doing the "squeeze" brings the feelings back.  You've now created an "anchor" and anytime you feel yourself slipping into old ways you can just fire it off and you'll feel great again instantly!

And just in case that's not enough, just momentarily remember the "horror movie" you created in step 2 - you'll be back on track in moments.

But - Will You Do It?

That's it!

Will you do this?  You might, but if you feel a little resistance, you might ask yourself why you'd be so committed to staying in your place of struggle.

There is an answer to that, but it's perhaps the subject of another article.  For now, just scrape off those turkey bits and read the four steps again - it's your brain!  You can either let it run your life, or you can run it and change your destiny.

 Happy New Year!

*Trevor Emdon a British success coach and author, trained in everything from psychotherapy to metaphysics and one day woke up to realise he was happy, in love and successful.  What saddens him is that far too many people want more from life but are afraid to go after their dreams.  His life’s work is to help those who ask to turn their dreams into reality.

For a free copy of his report "Fear Control: How To Take Risks & Win At Life" visit http://wizardofwisdom.com/fear