Whatever your New Year’s Resolutions, we all know how the story goes: get fit, lose ten pounds, give up cigarettes or chocolate, stop swearing, get to work earlier or finally start that new business idea. The list could go on forever as every individual has their own issues to resolve and habits to abolish. The problem is, if you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you have always gotten!

When you fail to keep your resolutions time and again, you lose faith in yourself and your capacity to commit. You need to start proving to yourself that you can do it, and coming up with a different game plan can help with this. Now is the perfect time of the year to start organizing yourself.

You can take steps to help increase your chances of success. Instead of writing a general list of every single thing you would like to change, prioritize it in order of importance. This way you can focus on one thing at a time with less risk of caving on everything. Trying to tackle too many things at once in any area of your life sets you up for failure. Imagine how good it will feel to check things off one by one in smaller steps!

Don’t write just what you want to change: list the steps you need to take in the order you are going to take them to make it happen. For example, if you want to lose weight, you may have a list that begins with eliminating refined sugars as a first step. Next to this you need to list points such as have muesli for breakfast instead of frosties, don’t have sugar in coffee and only have fruit for desert. This way it is clear in your mind how you are going to achieve your first goal.

Write some affirmations to help you with your mindset. An affirmation is a statement that proclaims a positive outcome to be true as though it has already happened. To say, "I want to be slim and healthy," is not an affirmation. Say, instead, "I am slim and healthy." If you say, "I don’t want to need cigarettes anymore," you have not stated a definite. Say, instead, "I release the need for cigarettes."

Along with your affirmations, you will benefit from doing visualizations. Spend some quiet time each day with your eyes closed, actually imagining yourself having made the change. Remember, you are focusing on only one thing at a time so you don’t become overwhelmed. If you have affirmed to stop biting your nails, picture yourself in situations where you normally would do it. Then visualize those same situations, but with your being relaxed and comfortable to sit or stand with your hands by your side or on your lap. This will serve as a reinforcement for all the other steps you are taking.

Make your resolutions known to a few people whose opinions you respect. This way you will have extra incentive to stay strong, since you won’t want them to be disappointed in you. Some of you may be motivated by telling certain colleagues and family members, in particular the ones who will enjoy keeping tabs on your progress so they can have fun with any failures. Visualize how good you will feel when they all watch in dismay as you demolish your list before their eyes!

Of course, following these suggestions means you won’t just wake up New Year’s day a completely new person, but no one ever does. Becoming a healthier, happy person is a process, and this year, your efforts will be worth it.

This year, you also might want to use a different approach and work on keeping your New Year’s Resolutions with hypnosis. Regardless of past failings, hypnotherapy can work through your subconscious mind to make the changes that you need to be successful. It doesn’t matter how many times you tell yourself to give up chocolate if your subconscious mind still believes you need to have it. Hypnotherapy accesses the deeper parts of your mind to help you change unwanted behaviors and give up bad habits once and for all. Don’t be surprised if you even make your changes before the clock strikes twelve when using hypnosis to help those resolutions stick!

Most Popular New Year’s Resolutions*

Work harder or smarter:   23%

Eat a healthy diet:          13%

Stop or reduce smoking,

     drinking, caffeine or

     the use of other drugs: 7%

All others:                      20%

*Source: University of Washington Psychology Department