The end of the year is quickly approaching. This time of year usually puts us in a reflective mood. It’s time to look back at the past and determine what we would like to change in the future.

Like most other people, I make New Year’s resolutions every year. Sometimes I don’t admit it. Mainly because I feel embarrassed about never really sticking to them, but I’ve decided to come clean this year.

Why are most resolutions destined to fail?

Many people make a lot of lofty goals at the beginning of the year. Goals like loosing weight, exercising, quitting smoking and eating healthy are all common resolutions. The problem is that many people try to do too much at once.

I have a tendency to over-schedule myself. I decide one day that I’m going to do a bunch of things to change my habits. Then I write an impossible schedule that I must stick to and that doesn’t allow me time to rest. I just wrote one of these schedules on the plane. Some people never learn.

Many people do a similar thing at the beginning of each year. They made too many goals and try to do them in a regimented and intense way. This is too much to adjust to and you end up giving up on your goals. You give up because you make them to difficult to achieve.

How can you keep your resolutions?

In my interview with Leo Babauta earlier this week, he mentioned taking one step at a time. This is important when setting and keeping New Year’s resolutions. Don’t try to change everything all at once. This will only leave you feeling overwhelmed. Pick something you want to work on and focus on that thing. Take the small steps you need to get it done. I talked about breaking down big goals into smaller ones before.

Steve Pavlina does something called the thirty-day trial on his blog. He chooses a behavior that he’d like to try, like a new diet or exercise routine and does that thing everyday for thirty days. It’s a good experiment because it gives you a chance to try a change out and see if it’s right for you. If you don’t like it, just tell yourself it’s only for thirty days. It’s kind of a way to trick yourself because thirty days is the amount of time it takes to form a new habit. If you don’t want to you can stop after the thirty days is up, but if you want to continue the new habit well after the thirty-day period, it isn’t very difficult.

Set realistic goals and you won’t be disappointed in a month because you weren’t able to stick to them. Happy New Year! Good luck with those resolutions.

Photo by mudpig