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As 2007 comes to a close and we look out at the new year ahead, now is a time when many people are working on resolutions of things they’d like to do or change. For many of us, this is an annual exercise, yet it seems that the resolutions are in many cases the same, as we’ve kept them for the first month to two, and then life seems to get in the way.Many of these resolutions fall into several categories, such as:

• Finances
• Career
• Relationships
• Losing weight/Being healthier
• Being more organized
• Generally being a better person

Looking at these things, it seems that these categories can be further summed up into two meta-categories; basically trying to kick a bad habit or start a good one. So then with so many tips out there for making and changing habits, why do we make the same resolutions year after year?

With that in mind, here are a few tips to make 2008 different, and turn the resolutions into results.

New Year’s is merely a suggestion

The beginning of a new year is a great time to reflect upon the past and decide how we’d like our future to look. However, January 1 is only a day, just like any of the other 364/365 days of the year (Does anyone else find leap years fun like me?). There’s nothing wrong with starting your resolutions at any time of year. For example, I had been wanting to get in better shape for months, and finally started at the beginning of November. Resolving to improve one’s health doesn’t need to wait for a new year (and probably shouldn’t).

Failure is not the end

Just because you start something and don’t succeed the first time, doesn’t mean it’s over. It just means you need to change your approach. Maybe the method you were using to quit smoking wasn’t quite right for you, or you had scheduled your workouts at a low energy point in the day. So don’t throw in the towel, just make a change and start again. There’s a reason that the gyms will be ridiculously busy for January and then back to a normal level in February, and that’s because people fail once and then don’t try again.

Continuous improvement

If you combine the previous two items, you can then apply the business principle of continuous improvement. Basically, you’re constantly monitoring your actions and looking for places to make the small changes. If you’ve taken the time to reflect and set some overall goals, then you’re working with a good vision of your end result in mind. If you evaluate the small changes against this vision, this is a much easier way to reach the goals you’ve set for yourself.

The key to keeping your New Year’s Resolutions boils down to two things. Reflection and persistence. Reflect upon what goals you’d like to reach, work at getting there, if you have a failure or a setback, reflect why and then modify your approach. Remember that each failure is only another step on the road to success, and stay positive.

For the a few reflection tips, check out Leo’s post at Zen Habits, 5 Powerful Reasons to Make Reflection a Daily Habit, and How to Do It. As for making and changing habits, there’s a multitude of ways to do it, but find the one that works for you (maybe a 30 day experiment?) and give it a go!

Happy New Year’s everyone, and all the best to you and your families in 2008!

Cheers,

Adam

Good luck!