You have made the decision and created a goal. That is a great step in the right direction. Now it’s time to go from goal to something you can stick with for the rest of your life. In other words, it’s time to make that new behavior a habit. They say it takes 21 days to form a new habit. I like to think of it more like a shift in mindset and that can happen on day one, or it can take you much longer than 21 days to make that shift. What you need to do is accept that the new behavior is the new normal. Of course…

How would you like to greatly increase your chances of sticking to and reaching your goals? Staying motivated and being accountable are certainly part of it, but by far the best way to make sure you keep going is to find an accountability partner. Think of this person as your “Partner in Crime”. You both have a similar goal and can work together to do whatever you need to do to get here. Maybe you already have a person like that in mind. If not, here are some ideas for finding your accountability buddy. Start by sharing with your circle of friends and loved ones what you’re planning to accomplish.…

I’m sure it’s happened to all of us. We set goals with the best of intentions. We make a goal (or two or three) and everything is going splendidly. We’ve got this and it seems easy. We’re going to the gym, we’re eating healthier and living more frugally to finally pay off that credit card. A couple of weeks go by and we’re ready to back out on our goals because it’s just too hard to give up pizza, work out every day and not go shopping anymore. We’re ready to call it quits. And usually that’s exactly what most of us do. Let’s make this time different. It’s time…

You set a goal and you’ve been doing well. Then you get to the point where it would be just a little too easy to skip a day. You’re contemplating that piece of cheesecake, that cigarette or are seriously tempted to skip the gym today. Your motivation is slacking and the initial excitement is starting to wear off. What do you do to stay on track and keep your resolve steady? You build in some accountability. Any type of accountability will help. Tell a friend what goal you’re hoping to reach, or even better find an accountability partner that’s working on changing similar habits. Make a bet with your spouse…

Big goals are good things to have. There’s nothing wrong with being ambitious. What if you’ve made a goal so big that you’re having a hard time motivating yourself to get started and/or keep going? Perhaps everything was going well for a few weeks, but then your motivation started to slip. And with it bad habits started creeping back up. What you need is a fresh boost of motivation. I have just the thing for you. Think of it as a motivational hack. It’s all about setting mini goals that you can reach quickly. Here’s what will happen when you reach each mini goal along the way. It Makes You…

When you have a big goal it’s hard to stay excited and motivated about it for weeks and months on end. Or maybe it’s something you’re not that excited about in the first place. We all know we should get more active and exercise at least a few times a week. But that doesn’t mean we look forward to it. What do you do to keep going and stay motivated to lace up those running shoes each day? Your bribe yourself along the way. Think about what would motivate you as a reward. Maybe it’s a fun new T-shirt to wear on your workouts, maybe it is pizza and a…

What were you hoping to accomplish this year? Maybe it was to finally lose those 30 extra pounds. Maybe it was to get back into shape so you can play at the park with the grandkids. Maybe it was to finally quit smoking or pay of that pesky credit card debt. Maybe it was to finally start your own business and become your own boss. We tend to make big resolutions at the beginning of the year. And why not, we have an entire year to complete them. That may sound like a good thing at first, but a few days in you realize that that’s a pretty big goal.…

One of the reasons we’re all bad about sticking to our goals is because we don’t see big results right away. It doesn’t matter if you’re trying to lose weight, pay off credit cards or quit smoking. We stick with the program for a few weeks and then start to lose steam and motivation. It takes a lot to keep going and it isn’t easy to change our habits for the better. What we need to stay on track is a little motivation. If we can see that we’re moving in the right direction (even if it isn’t always as fast as we’d like it to be), we’ll keep going…

Are you just dreaming? You want to lose 30 pounds… eventually. You want to save up $20,000 for a down payment on a house … at some point. You want to make enough money to life comfortably … somewhere down to road. Without an end date, you have nothing to shoot for. It’s nothing more than a day dream. To turn resolutions into reality, you need to know what you’ve got to do on a weekly or even daily basis to make it happen. And you can’t do that unless you have a set end goal. In other words, start at the end, and then figure out what it will…

Many of us think of setting goals as being similar to making New Year’s Resolutions. If you’re like most people, these aren’t usually successful. There are a couple of reasons why resolutions may not work well for you. If they do, great. Keep doing what you’re doing, but if they don’t then read on. We’re so used to breaking our resolutions, that we start to think it is okay try a little and then give up. It’s a mindset thing. A goal on the other hand, particularly if it’s a smart goal (more on that in a minute), is something we believe we can reach. That makes us work a…