HOW TO KEEP YOUR NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS - Simplicity

The third reason for failed resolutions I would like to share with you has to do with the K.I.S.S. Principle. That’s Keep It Simple, Silly. The simpler an action is to take, the more likely we are to take it.

Let me share a story with you where some friends of mine incorporated this idea into one of their resolutions or goals. They were having some problems using their credit card too much. The goal was to limit the usage and keep it paid off. Their solution obviously had to make it harder for them to use the card. What they did was to seal the credit card in a Ziploc bag, put it in a bowl of water, and freeze it. Now, instead of slapping the plastic down on an impulse, they had to go home and get the frozen card out of the freezer. They then had to either chip the ice off the card (risking damaging the card) or wait for it to melt. This gave them time to think about the whether or not they really wanted to use the card. Problem solved.

Making simple resolutions is one thing; having a simple number is another. When we are excited about making changes (or fed up with the current situation), we may make a list of 10 or more major life changes we are going to make in the next 12 months. I don’t know about you, but sometimes making 1 change is a challenge all by itself. Therefore, why not keep the big list as your master list and sort it by what changes are most important to you. Then, take the top 2 or 3 items and go to work on them. If, in the next 6 months you have accomplished all these, then by all means get a head-start on the next 12 months and take the next 2 or 3 on the list and go to work on them.

One of the keys to making lasting changes in your life is confidence. If you tackle a big’ole list, it may take you some time to have enough victories to build the confidence you need to keep going. However, when you start with only 2 or 3, you can focus a lot more time and energy on the things most important to you and more quickly achieve the wins you need to take on more challenges.