5 Important Strategies for Lasting New Year’s Confidence: Fourth Strategy

What is your intention?

New Year’s resolutions are famously short lived, lasting only a few days or a few weeks. Rather than totally give up on resolutions, use smart strategies to build your confidence. The beginning of a new year just feels like the right time to make changes and start going in the right direction.

I’ll post one important strategy each day over the first 5 days of 2012 to help you be successful with your resolutions and build your self-confidence. Come back tomorrow for the fifth strategy.

4. Do you really want it! Or is it a “should”?

If the resolution you are making to change something in your life is a “should” in your mind, such as “I should exercise this year,” “I really should give up sweets,” then I guarantee it won’t happen. Why?

“Shoulds” are externally imposed rules, even if you are doing the imposing on yourself, so they have no real lasting power to produce change. “Shoulds” are the parental rules we internalize. Then the inner child can rebel, only keep the resolution for a while and quickly succumb to excuses and reasons to disregard the resolution.

You have to want the result that your resolution will create more than you want the old behavior. The desire to be slimmer has to outweigh the desire for chocolate, pun intended. The desire to be more generous this year has to be more rewarding than selfish desires.

Get in touch with your true desires, your wants, to build your self-confidence.