New Year’s Resolutions

Dear Heather,

Every year I make New Year’s Resolutions and every year I do not follow through with most of them.  I want to accomplish more, but I’m not sure I know how.  Do you have any advice on how to do this?

Dear Want To Accomplish More,

Congratulations!  You accomplished “SOME” of them!  If you accomplished even one of your New Year’s Resolutions, you are ahead of the curve. 

Here are my tips for achieving your New Year’s Resolutions/Goals:

1. Do not set too many goals. (No more than 5) 

Most people do not accomplish their New Year’s Resolutions because they set too many.  You probably need to narrow it down.  Please don’t let this discourage you.  If you can accomplish all 5 New Year’s Resolutions, you can always set more.

Your brain needs to experience a win to tackle more. When you accomplish a goal, or in your case; a New Year’s Resolution, your brain releases the reward chemical, dopamine. For an amateur goal setter, you cannot have more than 5 goals…and for some, this is still too many.  Because dopamine is the “reward” chemical, tackling one small goal and achieving it will help your brain release dopamine, which creates feelings of accomplishment, motivation, and the desire for more productivity.  Your brain likes dopamine and will want more of it, which over time will help you to become better at accomplishing goals. 

You can begin your New Year’s Resolutions like this: write down one personal goal, one financial goal, one business or work goal, one spiritual goal, and one relationship goal. 

• Be specific and start small. 

You need to be specific.  For instance, instead of saying “I want to lose 20 pounds”, try I want to start walking 40 minutes 3 days per week.  Another example might be, “I want to save $10,000 this year”.  Instead, you need to look at your budget and decide realistically what you can save each month.  Goals shouldn’t be easy, but they also shouldn’t be unrealistic. 

Here are my tips for achieving my goals.

• Find your “Why”. 

A why is so important!  You need something to motivate you to keep going.  Ask yourself, “Why do I want to achieve (fill in the blank) and keep asking yourself why until it strikes an emotional chord. 

• Look at your New Year’s Resolutions at least once per week and if you can schedule an activity in your calendar do that for extra dopamine release!  Crossing that off your calendar will feel amazing to you.

Thank you for your question! I hope that you find some of these tips useful. I wish you the best as you pursue your 2025 New Year’s Resolutions! Cheers to accomplishing more of your goals than you did last year!

Sincerely,

Heather

I would love to hear from you!  In this column, I will be featuring some of YOUR questions on life, love, and family.  Please reach out to me via my website, HSHaygood.com, or find me on Facebook under HS Haygood.  Please write “Letters to Heather” in the subject line or at the top of your message so that I don’t miss it.  I’m looking forward to reading your letters!