Don’t Fall Short on your Resolutions!

Every year I resolve to loose weight to be more organized, etc. Probably close to the same resolutions you make each year. Yet, as the year goes on I find that I fall of the wagon as it were most times before I even start.

What do we do to prevent such a thing from happening? Well, first don’t make it about a NEW year, make it about a NEW Day, NEW week, or even a NEW hour. Why do resolutions and resolve have to be started on the New Year? Who says that in order to be successful we must begin our Journey of self betterment on January 1?

In order for any change to occur it has to happen on our own time schedule and what works for us, not any one else. So the New Year didn’t go as planned your coupon pile is still a mess, Laundry piled high and you’ve barely managed to get your Christmas decorations boxed up let alone stored back in the attic. Don’t fret, it’s not hopeless, you have not failed by realizing 11 days, 30 days or 6 months later that you forgot.

How do you make real resolutions that last? How do you incorporate them so they become habits and not something that is another chore?

1. Get a Journal/Log Book- You may not be a writer, or a Journal person but keeping detailed account of what you have done will help you see how far you have come! It will also help keep your organized and on track!

2.Make a Plan- list out what you really want in detail, how you want to go about doing it, and what you hope it will result in. Have a picture of this achievement in  your mind. Or even better find a representation of your goal in a picture online or from a magazine and keep it on your fridge/mirror or work desk.

• Break Down your Plan- How many things are you wanting to change? Organization, Health, Weight, etc. Each area deserves it’s own detailed mini plan.
• Start Small- Don’t try to attack your whole plan at once. Start with something simple like, “seeing the sink”. I struggling with leaving dishes in our sink from dinner and the day until the following day so I am on a simple plan to make sure each night before I go to bed that I can in fact see into the bottom of my sink before my head hits the pillow. It may sound simple, but it’s a challenge especially when your tired to not leave it for tomorrow. I find each day it gets easier!
• 21 Day IT- Make sure you do your small plans for a minimum of 21 days, then they are more likely to be habits! At that point, look to see what you can add.  Depending on your goals you can do a few small things at the same time and some more challenging things may need all your focus. Or you can overlap them too by starting on one step and once you feel ready adding more while continuing the previous steps. Remember this is YOUR plan so go as fast/slow as you want as long as your working on your goals it will come!

3. Make room for Human Error- If your anything like me your going to screw up! That is okay! Just be sure to take it one day at a time and pick right back up where you left off don’t let one Burger or over-stacked pile of Dishes from last night ruin your goals to be better! Also, sometimes things happen out of order and that is okay too!

4. Tell someone of your Goals- you don’t have to detail it out to them but sharing helps hold you accountable for your actions even subconsciously. It may be that they are struggling with the same things and would like to partner in with you on some of your goals. Another idea, if you have achieved weightloss  and not organization and your friend is struggling with the opposite you can help one another by swapping success stories and sharing ideas on how to better the other!

Here is one of my most recent plans:

Plan 1- Organization<—Main Goal

Background on my Organization or lack there of–

I tend to let the laundry pile, the dishes wait until last minute and my home clutter. I keep clean surfaces, floors, counters typically and consider my home “well lived’ in. I have children that run around leave their toys and do not pick up when their told. I feel that is my fault because I do not set a good enough example on how to keep up on your chores instead of letting them gather. I have “things” I don’t really need but have not gotten rid of I need to downsize that considerably and my children’s as well.

Goals:<—Main Goal Broken Down (note the honesty, be that way it helps)

To see the sink each night before bed!

Do the Laundry and fold it and put it away as it is created not when we need more clothes.

De-clutter my papers,why do I have so many papers??

Re-organize my coupon book and stay organized so it does not take hours to rebuild.

Let go of some things that I have been unable to do so to.

Teach my kids to keep up on their own messes and keep them selves organized

Not allow myself to have some many “junk drawers” (they are really boxes but ahhh)

Clean my Garage and keep it clean!

Learn to follow a weekly chore plan (I HATE THOSE) but really they make soooo much sense!

Small Steps

1: See my sink, stay up on Laundry! ( I am combining two steps in order to be more efficient and because I can tackle them!!)

2. Reorganize my coupons and stay Organized! Saving is Key to so much!

3.De-clutter and stay that way! Papers first because I collect those too quickly, Garage and Things to follow This is going to be a job so slow and steady here!

4. Ditch my Junk drawers Boxes etc! If there is no spot for it pitch it!

5. Make myself a an organized weekly chore list and stick to it. (not looking forward to this I hate following 

5. Re-organize my kids rooms, give them daily check off sheets, use the sheets, help them stay motivated to stay organized and NOT develop MY bad habits!

 I believe that change takes, work that is is messy and painful; if it’s not your probably not doing it right!

I am not an expert these are just reasons I have been unsuccessful in my own messy life, I do not claim to have any specific Training in these areas. I simply am offering up a model to how I am choosing to approach my own life goals and resolutions because I am tired of not succeeding.

Hope this was helpful feel free to let me know about what your working on or continuing to work on in the comments below!