How to achieve your 2024 resolutions

Have you already forgotten or given up on some of your new year's resolutions? Find out how you can stay on track in 2024.

New year’s resolutions are not a new phenomenon - the origin goes back 4,000 years. And as every year passes, most of us still mark the end of a calendar year by reflecting on what we have achieved and set resolutions for the year to come.

But very often we have forgotten those resolutions before the end of January, and have reverted to previous habits.

Research suggests that only 12 per cent of people who make resolutions, feel that they achieve them. So how can you ensure to achieve your resolutions?

Share with your mentor

The first step is to share that resolution with others, holding yourself accountable and allowing them to check up on your progress. They will be able to support and guide your journey towards achieving the goals you have set. Of course, a great person to share your resolution with is a mentor.

Be specific

Resolutions can often be vague ideals, for example – ‘I will achieve a promotion in 2024’. A mentor will help us develop our resolutions into a set of goals, which will drive us towards achieving the resolution.

The best goals are incredibly specific, with clear steps to take us from where we are now to achieving the results we desire. The more specific we can be when breaking down our goals, the more likely that we will achieve them. When goals are broken down into manageable and measurable pieces, we can track our progress and stay focused. This helps ensure that we keep working on the goal until we accomplish it.

Our member mentoring platform has all the tools to guide you through the process of identifying goals, setting SMART goals and tracking your progress to achieving these.

Limit your goals

Professor of psychology at Hertfordshire University, Richard Wiseman, suggests that you should pick just one goal to focus on at a time, rather than spreading yourself too thinly across several different objectives.

Taking on too much at once can feel daunting and may result in you giving up on your goals. On the other hand, achieving even one small goal can boost your self-belief and self-confidence, encouraging you to go on to focus on your next goal.

Keep your goals visible

Results show you are more likely to continue working towards a goal when they are literally in front of you. You could write your goals on a sticky note and keep it on the side of our laptop or on the front of your notebook, as well as keeping a document where you can keep track of progress and tick off individual actions as you make progress. The more time you spend seeing your goals, the easier it will be to focus on progress.

Learn and adapt

Encountering a setback is one of the most common reasons why people give up on their resolutions, causing a relapse into unwanted habits. Instead of seeing this as a failure, view it as an opportunity to learn about yourself, helping you to be better prepared to deal with challenges in the future.

Keeping a detailed journal can help you to track your progress, so you can learn and adapt. Writing about your successes and struggles can help you to learn what motivates you and what causes you to falter.

Continue to share with your mentor

Undertaking the above steps allows us to learn about ourselves whilst achieving our goals. Throughout this process we should share with our mentor what we are learning, feeling and achieving.

Being open and honest will provide insight into what drives you, enabling your mentor to provide bespoke support, guidance, and advice, helping you to achieve your goals more effectively and efficiently.

Are you feeling inspired to take the next step?

Why not sign up to our member mentor platform today and keep your goals on track in 2024. This platform is exclusively open to all active CIWEM members to join as both a mentor or a mentee

If you would like to learn more about becoming a mentor, our Professional Mentor Training Programme will teach you the skills, behaviours and techniques needed to be a mentor of the highest professional standard.