Achieve new year’s resolutions in the 4 months (or less) you have left

If I’m honest, I’ve kinda grown numb to New Year’s Resolutions. I get excited. I do for a bit. Then I go back to regularly scheduled programming. Womp, womp—

And why does it take a whole 12 months to achieve these goals anyway? While I hate failing at anything, I tell myself that falling off the resolutions band wagon is ok, because I’m…

Juggling a lot

Working on other things

Helping other people

Needing to put my money elsewhere right now

Getting my life together (always)

Going to do better next year

Or I come up with some other way to basically say, “I’m just so busy & overwhelmed.” But, somewhere deep down inside, we made those resolutions for a reason, right? We were inspired by a fresh start and new opportunities. We were motivated to become better versions of ourselves.

But if we keep living the way we’re living, we’ll never achieve any of that.

So, instead of waiting until next year to lie to ourselves yet again, I ask this question…

“How can we achieve our new year’s resolutions in less than 4 months?”

As in, it’s August right now. December totally doesn’t count (holidays, vacays, travel). So what can be done between now and Thanksgiving to get us back on track? Welp, grab your Lisa Frank trapper keepers, because we’re going back to school!

Back-to-school signifies set schedules, consistency, and a guide for the journey. And we can use this to knockout our resolutions in the next 4 months. 

FIRST: Set a good, standard schedule.

Do you remember your middle school schedule? Somehow everything that needed to get done, did. Typically, we fall short on our goals for the year, because we don’t set aside time in our day to achieve them. But, barring a fire drill or a pep really, try re-imagining your schedule to look like it did back in the day…

• Start with homeroom—time to check-in with goals, deadlines, and what we plan to accomplish today and the rest of the week.
• Head to class—where we learn from being with others. As an adult, this translates into time for meetings, conference calls, and other appointments.
• Take planned mini-breaks—when the bell rings, it’s time to breathe and reset. Don’t skip this breathing room between “meetings.” It’s so necessary to keep from conking out during economics class.
• Then LUUUUNCH!!—stop everything, sit down, and eat. It better prepares you for the rest of the day (and you can get the scoop from your BFF: will she check “yes,” or will she check “no”? Tehe).  After more classes (i.e., meetings, work projects)…
•  We participate in extracurricular activities—hobbies, exercise, library time, clubs/community organizations, whatever you want to do goes here! HINT: This is the perfect time to explore your new year’s resolution.
• Once we get home, we settle in for dinner, family time, house chores, and homework—in an effort not to bring any “work-work” home, try using homework time to progress on your personal assignments, such as a project you’re volunteering on for church, or updating your online business.

SECOND: Be consistent, even if you’re not good at it.

I HATED history. I had an amazing history teacher who made it fun, but remembering all of those dates, names, and locations was a lot for someone who’d rather be next door writing short stories. The good thing about having that standard schedule we mentioned earlier is that I had to consistently work on what I was not good at. Similarly, resolutions are often built around areas we’d like to improve in, or new habits and experiences we’d like to incorporate into our lives. Changing who we are is tough, but we have to engage consistently if we expect to learn and grow.

THIRD: Get a guide for your journey.

Teachers are often referred to as motivators, role models, and mentors. They guide us through territories new to us, but well-traveled by them. They are our eyes, ears, and map, until we can trust what we’ve learned and explore independently. To truly achieve habit changes and even lifestyle changes in under four months, we need an expert guide. From experienced friends to trained professionals, this guide serves as our map, our mentor, our motivator, and our accountability for the journey.

If your resolution is centered on living well, then we have the ideal guide for you. The No Regrets Resolution course walks you through 6 weeks of wellness for 15 minutes/day. You’ll learn how to incorporate food, exercise, sleep, and stress into your wellness lifestyle. With daily prompts and spiritual encouragement from yours truly (*smiles*), you’ll learn to be your best self, do your best work, and achieve those resolutions.

Real question: What goals do you plan to knock out in 4 months? Why are these goals important to you? Who do you expect to become as a result? Share with the community (i.e. leave a comment on this article), so we can be our best selves…together. 🙂

Dr. Asha

Dr. Asha is a Creator of Healthy Conversations. She is passionate about inspiring women to be their best selves, do their best work, and live life abundantly! To learn more about Dr. Asha, go to www.doctorasha.com/bio.

Order Dr. Asha’s Bookc: Click here to order Dr. Asha’s book or other great wellness resources from our boutique!

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