By Bri Groves, Swimming World College Intern.
As the new year begins, it’s easy to make resolutions but harder to keep them. To help you stay on track, here are five ways to stay focused on your new years resolution:
1. Make Your Resolution Part of Your Daily Routine.
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Integrating your resolution into your routine not only builds good habits, it also ensures that you have scheduled time to work towards your resolution. By incorporating this new element into your schedule you are empowering yourself. You are in charge. It is your responsibility to stay on track and likewise you can only blame yourself for laziness. Your achievement is within your control but other people may still help, advise, and support you. Having a strong sense of autonomy is essential to sticking with aspirations. Those who place blame on surrounding individuals do not have the resources necessary for future success.
2. Focus on Short-term Attainable Goals.
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Short-term goals are method to keep you resolutions simple and attainable. Your New Years Resolution is meant to be accomplished over a long period of time; short-term goals are designed for short term achievement. But creating small realistic goals, you are setting yourself up for continued success and positive reinforcement. Short-term goals also force individuals to break their larger goals into the smaller parts necessary for success. They are a method for planing and staying on track. If you are not reaching short-term goals, maybe you should readjust your approach or look at the realistically of your resolution. In contrast, if you are easily reaching your short-term goals it may be an indication that you can work even harder or improve faster than expected.
3. Use Reminders and Inspirational Media.
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Reminders, inspirational media, motivational posters, and other sources of inspiration can be a great tool to reinforce and promote work ethic. Choose something that speaks to you and relates to your resolution. Avoid anything negative; you want to fill your brain with feelings of possibility rather than doubt.
4. Make Qualitative and Quantitative Goals.
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There are two main types of goals: qualitative and quantitative. Qualitative goals are those that can be observed but do not involve precise measurement. For instance, streamlining to the flags off every wall is a qualitative goal. You are working towards an observable achievement but there are no numbers, such as times, involved. Quantitative goals are more measurable. A quantitative goal may be to streamline to the flags in 2.5 seconds. There is a number attached to the goal and achievement is based on attaining or besting the goal quantity. Incorporating both qualitative and quantitative goals allows you to focus on the process of achievement. You are actively focusing on the details necessary and progress towards your resolution.
5. Keep Track of Your Progress.
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Keeping track of your progress towards your goals and ultimate resolution is a vital component to future success. To improve, you must monitor your own accomplishments and evaluate what techniques and approaches work well and which do not. This process is where short-term goals come in handy. If you are actively setting and resetting these goals, you should have a strong understanding of what you need to improve in and a relative time frame that you expect to make progress in. Active goal setting and tracking are demonstrations of your work load and keep you in control of your resolution.
Happy New Year and good luck with your resolutions!
All commentaries are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Swimming World Magazine nor its staff.