New Year’s Resolutions. Here we are a couple of weeks away from New Year’s Day and already many of us have broken, or at least compromised our resolutions for doing things differently. While we may be sincere at the time we crafted them, we often sabotage the process and therefore our success by setting unrealistic goals to be achieved through ineffective methods in an unattainable time frame. I’m not trying to discourage you from desiring and working towards change; I’m trying to inject a bit of a reality check into the process.

Any kind of successful resolution has to align with your value system. If you don’t completely buy into the resolutions you have set for yourself, then you are inviting failure into the process.

Any kind of successful resolution has to be broken down and achieved in manageable increments. Sure, there are some of you who can bluster your way through, and some resolutions (like quitting cigarettes) may require an all or nothing approach. But for the most part, you are inviting discouragement into the process if you try to bite off more than you can chew all at once.

Any kind of successful resolution has to be pegged to attainability. It’s great to dream big but in doing so don’t undermine your success by setting a goal that just isn’t feasible. You don’t necessarily have to throw the baby out with the bath water ~ perhaps you need to modify or rethink the original resolution.

Any kind of successful resolution has to be made public. Yes, you need accountability for your actions so in those moments of weakness, you have a partner to help you over the humps.

So go ahead and make those resolutions. That’s the beautiful optimistic nature of new beginnings in a new year. But do it in a way that you won’t look back in a few days, weeks, months and ask yourself, “What was I thinking?” or “I’m such a loser.”