As a goal-oriented person, I have always enjoyed the first of the year because of the emphasis on goal-setting and fresh starts. The new year provides an opportunity to reflect on previous progress and plot a course for the future. Unfortunately, many of us know the disappointment that comes with failed resolutions, and they are almost doomed to fail from the start.

We enter the new year with renewed hope that this time our resolutions will stick and we will do the thing we set out to accomplish. But for me, real life takes over January 2nd and my resolutions are short-lived. It’s not for lack of effort or enthusiasm. I really do mean well. From adding exercise to my daily routine and eating more veggies to waking up earlier and working on projects, my resolutions lack staying power.

I know the first of the year is behind us, and perhaps your resolutions are revolutionizing your routines, but for me, I need to look beyond New Year’s resolutions and come up with something with more oomph. My solution is too look at the three-strand cord of goals, habits, and affirmations.

Goals
Many people have written about the importance and process of setting effective goals, so I won’t add much here. Michael Hyatt offers an excellent e-book on creating a life plan and several others have developed goal-setting formulas and worksheets. In a nutshell, the trick to writing good goals is to make them specific so you know when you have reached them and write them down so you have a record. One additional point that I sometimes struggle with is breaking my goals down into manageable steps.
The saying goes, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” I tend to plan for the elephant by trying to make my mouth bigger, instead of making the bites smaller. So my encouragement is to write each goal out along with a step-by-step plan for getting there.

Habits
Habits are the daily activities and behaviors that move us down the road of life. They may move us toward our goals or away from them depending on each habit. Sometimes habits are so much a part of our routine that we don’t even notice them. At other times, they are a conscience choice to change be removing or adding an activity to our schedule.

The interesting thing about habits is that their effects are best viewed long-term because short-term effects are often difficult to measure. For instance, my husband brushes and flosses his teeth every night, without fail. I don’t. I have often said that it would be much easier to add flossing to the routine if I woke up with a cavity after skipping a night of flossing. But the consequences of this habit are not immediate; they are cumulative. Years of bad habits will eventually lead to poor health, limited career options, or failed relationships.

The good news is that we can change the outcome of our habits by changing our habits. The key is to introduce only one new habit at a time and try to attach it to something you already do regularly. For example, I have a routine that I follow every morning before I leave my room. I shower, get dressed, put makeup on, and dry my hair. Now I am trying to add making my bed to the list by making it the next thing I do. By attaching it to an established habit, I am more likely to remember to do it, and more likely to fit it in my day.

Affirmations
In her book The Female Advantage: Women’s Ways of Leadership, author Sally Helgesen shares the story of Barbara Grogan. When Barbara was 35, she found herself devastated by divorce with two children to provide for and no prospects for employment. To get herself out of bed in the morning, she adopted the mantra, “I am powerful, beautiful, creative, and I can handle it!” (Helgesen, p. 111). Years later, she kept it posted on her dashboard while leading her $6 million dollar company. She credits the short sentence with changing her outlook and helping her thrive even in tough times.

The Bible talks about the creative power of words from Genesis 1 when God spoke and created the world to John 1, identifying Jesus as the Word then saying, “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made” (John 1:3, NKJV). In Romans 4:17 the concept is spelled out for us, “…God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did…” This is a powerful image of the creative essence of words to transcend the reality of now and give birth to a new future.

Writing out affirmations and reviewing them regularly (daily is best) uses the creative power of words to bring life, not death, to our reality (Proverbs 18:21) and birth a fresh vision for our lives. I have had several different affirmations over the years reflecting my hopes, dreams, projects, and relationships. Here is one of my current affirmations to give you an example as you develop your own: I strategically invest my time and energy into people and projects that are meaningful to me. Keep a list of affirmations in a handy place in your bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, car, or office to review. Say them out loud so you hear them as well as speak them.

While New Year’s resolutions continue to get me excited, I have found they do little to keep me on track. The three-pronged approach of goals, habits, and affirmations give me the direction and daily development to create real and lasting transformation in my life.

What goals, habits, and affirmations will you cultivate this year?