How to Make Your Good Intentions Stick

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Categories: self improvement

Losing weight. Exercising regularly. Drinking less alcohol and caffeine. Developing better time management habits. Keeping up with chores. Whatever it is, I bet you’ve got plenty of good intentions right now.

But however great your intentions, you might not succeed. Feeling motivated to change isn’t usually enough to get you the whole way there – as you’ll probably know, if you’ve ever tried dieting or quitting smoking.

How can you make sure that those good intentions stick?

Make a Plan

It’s easy to get gung-ho about a new plan; in that first flush of motivation, you feel so determined that you can’t imagine failing. The problem is, motivation doesn’t last. You’ll pretty quickly hit a point when you feel apathetic: maybe you’re tired and don’t feel like working out, or you don’t have any healthy food in the house.

By planning ahead, you give yourself a much better chance of success. Plans mean getting realistic about your dreams. Instead of vague ideas like “I should lose weight”, you’ll end up with specific actions that get you from where you are to where you want to be.

A plan doesn’t need to be complicated, or rigidly inflexible. You might, for instance:

  • Plan ahead so that you have the ingredients on hand to create healthy meals
  • Put your exercise sessions into your diary, so you don’t keep thinking “I’ll exercise tomorrow…”
  • Break down complex goals, like changing career paths, into smaller steps

Help Yourself

You might think that the best way to succeed is to have really strong will-power – but that’s not generally true. Relying on self-discipline alone is likely to leave you frustrated and exhausted: if you spend all afternoon resisting those double chocolate cookies in the cupboard, you might not have the reserves of will-power left to head to the gym.

So, make life easy on yourself. Find ways to turn the healthy option (or whatever supports your goal) into the easiest action. That might mean keeping junk food out of the house – so that you’d have to go to the store if you wanted cookies. It might mean putting your exercise kit on as soon as you get up – so that you’re ready for your workout straight away.

Little changes and tweaks to your environment can make a massive difference when it comes to changing your habits – you can read some great advice on this, backed up with scientific evidence, in Chip and Dan Heath’s book Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard.

Don’t Aim Too High

Have you ever had some huge, big goal – something dramatic and life-changing? We’re often tempted to aim high when we’re imagining our futures. And that’s fine – it’s fun to daydream about being a millionaire or a supermodel or a sports star.

In reality, though, we often need to take our dreams down a notch. I’m not saying that you should settle for second-best – but you should look at what’s realistic. If you aim ridiculously high (say, you’re deep in debt  and you want to be a millionaire within two years) then  part of you is going to know that you’ll never manage it – so you may end up making no progress at all.

When setting your goals, aim for something which feels like a challenge, but which you’re pretty sure you can reach.

Get Accountable

It’s awfully easy to give up on a goal if you’ve not told anyone about it. That diet you couldn’t stick to … that exercise plan which fell by the wayside … if no-one knows you’re even trying, you can just quietly drop it.

Accountability is an incredibly powerful force. Like it or not, you do care what other people think about you. If you tell friends or family that “I’m going to lose 40 pounds” or “I’m going to exercise three times a week”, you’re probably going to stick with it.

Not got anyone you can confide in? You could talk about your goal on Twitter, or start a blog to keep you on track. It can be really encouraging to know that a bunch of anonymous strangers are watching your progress and cheering you on.

What are your goals or resolutions at the moment? How will you make sure that all your good intentions stick?

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  • http://smartaboutthings.com RinatisDinoro@SmartAboutThings

    I’d add to that

    Stay Focused on the Goal

    We fail so many times because we don’t know how to stay focused on the goal, whether we’re talking about losing weight or earning more. Some stay focused but forget that you also need to work, not just to think, while others work and forget to think about the final outcome

  • Pingback: How to Make Your Good Intentions Stick | Lumpuckeroo | Self Improvement - Overcoming Lumpuckeroo

  • http://www.transformationalmotivation.com/ M. A. Tohami

    The most important thing is to have a strong reason WHY you set these intentions in the first place. Without a strong emotional WHY, the motivation will not last for long.

  • http://www.transformationalmotivation.com/ M. A. Tohami

    I love the goal blogging or tweeting idea. Thumbs up.

  • http://hanofharmony.com The Vizier

    Hi Ali,

    I totally agree with what you say. It is good to have great intentions, but alone they are not enough. Wishing does not make it so. And to make good intentions stick, you have put together a prudent action plan. The following thoughts came to me as I was reading through your suggestions.

    Make a Plan

    It is always important to think and plan ahead to pre-empt the possible problems that could arise. As flexible guidelines, plans help us to channel our energies towards achievable goals. This makes it more likely for us to succeed at what we wish to do. It is better to have simple plans that can be adjusted to fit the situation as it changes. The more natural a plan is for us, the easier it is for us to implement it.

    Help Yourself

    I love this point. I have a weakness for chocolate and ice cream and I know how hard it is to resist them if they are lying around somewhere. As such, I have substituted chocolate and ice cream for yoghurt. It is a healthier alternative and I can snack with less worry.

    Get Accountable

    My theme for 2011 is “Thinking Ahead.” It is my intention to learn to think ahead and to think more creatively. To achieve this, I have written my resolutions as a blog post. With a plan and the power of accountability and a theme, I am likelier to achieve my goals.

    Thank you for sharing this article!

    Irving the Vizier

  • http://www.balancedworklife.com/blog Bryce Christiansen

    I think another thing that is motivating for making motivations stick is to track your progress.

    If you see that you are improving, it is easier to push yourself to keep up the work. The last thing you want to do when you are getting closer and closer to your goal is to just give up.

  • http://www.thereflectiveself.com Dandy

    Hi Ali,
    Great job on this post. I appreciate what you wrote about get accountable. When things don’t work out for us it is useless to blame others. If we see where we went wrong we are then empowered to fix it and move on. I truely believe that being accountable is being empowered. Thanks Ali!

    ~Dandy

  • http://www.goal-buddy.com Sasha Berson

    Hi Ali,

    Happy 2011! Good post.

    I see so many goals set without a plan it’s disheartening. No wonder that nearly 50% of New Year resolutions are abandoned before end of January.

    I would add the overused, but very important aspect of goal-setting. Your readers should always keep in mind the S.M.A.R.T. acronym when setting goals and make sure their goals are S.M.A.R.T.-compliant :) .

    On the accountability point: there are few websites, including my http://www.goal-buddy.com that now give you platform to set goals and everything related and find people striving to achieve similar goals that will be your support group and be notified if you get off track (I apologize for shameless self-promo, but thought it was very appropriate for the post and many readers may find it useful; please let me know if I crossed any boundaries and I’ll promptly remove it).

    @ Vizier interesting goals and approach to solving problems. Very cool

  • http://www.reflectozone.wordpress.com Reflecto

    I enjoyed this post and I especially like the part that says to be accountable. I feel that this is the follow through needed to see your goals through to their end. Without being accountable, you have no way of sustaining yourself in the process of achieving your goals.

    Thanks again,
    Reflecto

  • http://www.anthonybasich.com/ Anthony Basich

    Great post Ali!

    You are absolutely correct in stating that planning will increase your chances of success. Planning is everything; plan your work and work your plan.

    I also liked what Bryce said about tracking your progress. This is so important to keep yourself on the right track and to stay motivated.

    Thanks for sharing,
    Anthony

  • http://themasterpoint.blogspot.com The MasterPoint

    Keeping your plans before you is a good step towards achieving them. You can also use the method of value thinking, constantly bringing to mind the gains to be got from achieving the outlined goals. The more we think of the good we can enjoy from achieving our goals the easier it will be to start