Welcome to 2011 and a new decade!   Hurrah.. a fresh start, spring will be here before we know it, it’s time to strip off the old and open our lives to new possibilities – and then return to the same old same old.  
January is of course, the time for making New Year’s Resolutions and then for promptly breaking them!  

The “78% will fail” statistic comes from research by Richard Wiseman, who does some interesting research debunking many of the claims made in the personal development field.  According to Wiseman, many of the 78% in his research group failed because they had focused on what would happen if they didn’t achieve their resolution and tried to do get there by willpower alone. 

Personally, I avoid being in the 78% category by not setting any resolutions!  Here’s 3 reasons why people fail with New Year’s Resolutions, and what works better:

1. January, for those in the Northern Hemisphere in particular, is a month of cold, grey, short days and one that follows a month of excess, merriment and celebrations. It’s the classic “Cold Turkey” month – an image which conjures supreme acts of will in withdrawing from addictive substances, most of which will result in failure.  Hardly an environment that promotes best chances of success!

What works better: If you’ve already tried a resolution and failed already, shift your focus instead onto developing a Theme for the year ahead.  Choose one word or a short phrase (up to 3 words) that represents the overall direction you want to take your life this year.  My theme this year is “Simplify”.  I might not get there, but by having this one word at the forefront of my consciousness,  I’ll strive to simplify every day and I’ll be more aware (and therefore more likely to make adjustments), when I over-complicate my life – which I have a tendency to do on a regular basis.  

In short:  Ditch the resolution and pick up a theme for 2011

2. People tend to make HUGE, difficult to achieve resolutions that don’t take into account the demands of everyday life.  Remember that you don’t live in a vacuum.  For example, it’s not easy to lose 2KGs weight as a working  mum who has to get herself and her family up, dressed, fed and out of the house in the morning, go to work, go through the workday, possibly entertain clients with lunch or dinner out, organise meals and deal with a full and busy life.  If you are a celebrity with a personal chef, then you’re all sorted!  

What works better: Look at your life and what’s realistic and plan according to this.  Break your resolution or goal into baby steps.  One step at a time. And just because you stumble in your baby steps (as you will), it doesn’t actually mean that you’re  doomed to failure!  Just get up and try again!

In short:  Be realistic, get support, take baby steps and keep on trying!

3. Rarely do people plan how they will achieve our resolutions or goals.  Nor do they consider “What might prevent me from succeeding in this resolution?” or “What might go wrong and what will I do if that happens?” and “What will I put in place to support me?”  

What works better: Keep a diary of your goal progress.  Ask yourself why you want to achieve this, what it will bring you and brainstorm as many ideas as you can of ways to get there.  Don’t make resolutions or goals on the fly!  Ensure you’ve got good support and accountability structures in place (Coaches are good for this.  There’s one writing to you right now!).

In short:  Treat your resolution or goal as a project, not just a sentence.  Remember that boring old adage:  “Failing to plan is planning to fail”!