Goal Setting: Getting Over Resistance to Resolutions

January 1st, you had a great idea of what you want to accomplish. You set a great resolution, you shot out of the gate with full power! A few weeks later, you now feel depleted and you’re holding on to the last few sparks of your dream. You’ve fallen off the horse and you have brushed these goals away.

Now, it’s the beginning of February and you feel like you need to wait until next year to try to tackle your resolution. This is resolution resistance.

“Instead of shutting down at those moments, you need to shift your attitude towards loving the resistance that’s arriving. There’s truth in the resistance. There’s power in the resistance. There is hope in the resistance. If you can push through, If you can breathe into, or if you can lean back into that rather awkward growth spurt, what you are doing is your actually doing is being compassionate. “

What I love about Danielle LaPorte’s quote is the positive acknowledgment of resistance, a word that seems to be always shown in a negative light.

Here are my tips on how to combat resistance, get back on the horse, and stay focused on the positive to reach your intended destination.

1. Create rituals. On my vision board that sits in front of me at my drafting table sits a collage of quotes and pictures of where I want to go this year. One quote says, “rituals celebrate our true intentions and renew your commitment to your life.” How can you incorporate your dreams and goals into a ritual? Rituals can create habit and habit can lead to achieving a goal.

2. Reward Yourself!  Create a plan of reward and positively reinforce your own good behavior. Treat your inner artist child to something he or she really wants or gets excited about. Set achievable steps along the way to your goal with rewards at different parts of the journey.

3. Tell yourself you’re doing a great job. Whether it’s a re-commitment, commitment, continuation, or whatever or wherever you are at with your goal, you’re doing a great job. You are doing a great job. You are doing a great job. Use affirmations to take down your inner critic.

4. Share! Write it down, talk about it, blog about it, dream about it. Keep your resolution, goal, or intention in the forefront of your mind and share it with others. Tell them about this accomplishment you are going to reach and watch yourself soar.

5. Learn about resistance. There are a few resources I recommend. Obviously, Danielle LaPorte has a great track on her, The Desire Map, audio CD. Another book, This Year I Will….How to Finally Change a Habit, Keep a Resolution or Make a Dream Come True, talks about the ins and outs of making your resolutions happen and why we experience resistance based on past behaviors.

6. Realize you will sway between periods of growth and what seems like dormancy or non-growth. I guarantee you are still moving, growing, and making things happen when it seems like nothing is moving.

You will again reach a point where you feel a bit defeated and will fall off the horse again. Embrace resistance. Welcome it when it arrives, say hello, and push through it. Resistance is not futile, it is a great teacher. Let’s recommit and reconfirm our goals and resolutions for the year.