The new year resolutions - be aware of the resolutions influences

The end of the year has always been a good time to look back on the past year but also to look forward to the New Year and years to come. A new year means new opportunities, a new chance to make changes and work on various aspects of your life that you feel could use some improvement.

I am sure you have the standard new year's resolutions for example work harder, stop smoking, drink less, eat healthier, make more money, spend less, save more, invest wiser, be nicer, spend more time for your kids or your parents. This short list probably takes care of well over 95% of all New Year's resolutions. Unfortunately most people don't get better than that. And the worse is most of their resolutions will have been forgotten before January has passed.

Chances that you have even found yourself re-setting some new year's resolutions year after year. You might ask: "Why?" Fair question, quite simple too. Fortunately the answer is almost just as simple. You simply lacked the necessary leverage to persist. It would appear that what you set out for was not important enough for you. Although probably painful to admit, there is certainly a lot of truth to this.

If you're a success oriented person however your list will probably be very different. And your resolutions probably last a bit longer than January too. Some of your resolutions may have already worked wonders and your new year did indeed turn out to be your best year ever. Yet for others the New Year may have been more of the same. Nothing much changed. You had some good ideas, a number of goals and the intention to do something about them, but when you got going life just seemed to get in the way of you sticking to your commitments and good intentions... again.

It doesn't quite tell the whole story however. It's critically important to realize that reflecting, getting inspired and setting goals is one thing but actually moving into sustained action is quite another. Especially when your goals take you in a different direction than the one in which you're currently headed.

So how and why does this happen time and time again? You're a motivated person. You've set goals that you went on to achieve in the past. How come you get all fired up and excited thinking about the opportunities before you and making the necessary changes to make it all happen for you, yet before you know it most of your excitement has dwindled and you're stuck in your old daily routine once again? How does this happen? The answer again is simple: Things do indeed get in the way. Or better yet, and closer to the truth, you have allowed things to get in the way. You have allowed old habits to sneak back in. You have allowed people in your environment to sway or discourage you. Bottom line is: you have allowed it to happen.

The point is that you need to become aware of the influence they have on you. Once you have done that then you can come up with ways to counter their negative effects. Whenever you set some new goals or decide on some new commitments take a couple of minutes to think about what may prevent you from following through on it. Make a list of those things that are likely to get in your way. Sometimes just having identified this will help you catch yourself. You may realize that you get back into one of those habits that you wanted to break away from.

Whatever it is try to identify it. Find out what is keeping you up and then think of a way to change this. We all know the late show can be very interesting, but think about what would ultimately be more valuable: watching the late show or reading a good book that could give you some new and powerful insights to advance your life.

Whenever you come up with any resolution, especially one you've had before, it will be helpful to ask yourself: "What could prevent me from implementing this in my day to day life?" See what you can come up with. Make sure you at least become aware of the things that have stopped you in the past. Then go a little further to find effective ways to counter them so when you go back to your day to day activities you will be much better prepared. This little exercise will greatly improve your chances of successfully making the changes you desire and really making next year your best year ever!