Did you set a New Years Resolution this year? 45% of Americans set New Years Resolutions and of those only 8% actually follow through to completion. If you started strong, but your motivation is waning, today we’re going to talk about ways you can rescue your goals if you have fallen off the wagon.

In this Q&A segment I will share with you these four tips for rescuing your goals if you’ve already “fallen off the wagon”
1. Stop the Shame
2. Revisit your Why
3. Consider Goal Graduation
4. Focus on Habits Not Results

Question: Is there hope if we’ve already fallen off the wagon?

Michelle: Absolutely! One of the mindsets that holds us back from success is to believe there is only one time of year to succeed at change. And we don’t just do this for New Year’s Resolutions. We say, I’ll try again on Monday, or next month. But even deeper than that, because we consistently break our goals, we wait for another time to succeed. AND when we beat ourselves up for breaking a diet, or spending when we shouldn’t or whatever, we start the shame cycle and that self talk doesn’t make you want to try anymore. Believe you can and believe it’s worth it but stop telling yourself you’re a failure. THAT won’t help you reach any goals.

Question: What if the motivation just isn’t there? How do you get to the gym, or spend less, or apply for a better job?

Michelle: Revisit your motivation and make sure WHY you want the goal is solid. Are you trying to get organized because everyones sharing you Marie Kondo after pictures on Social Media? Or do you feel the need to be better organized in your life because you’re spending so much time trying to find “lost” things? Your why has to be rooted in what YOU want, not what others want. One year I had friends who were trying to motivate me to run a half marathon, but until I was willing to do it for me, I couldn’t commit or even be motivated to complete the training schedule.

Question: Do you think it’s more motivating to go for a BIG goal or a small goal?

Michelle: Depends, some people are more motivated by big hairy audacious goals and that helps them hit the pavement and work hard. However, most of us, especially if you have let goals go in the past, you may want to consider Goal Graduation. For example, let’s say you want to lose 50 pounds, some people would be motivated by that goal, but others need to start with something small like losing 10% of your body weight or even just losing 5 pounds so that they can feel success and stay motivated. BIG goals CAN be fun, but its hard to stay motivated if you don’t hit milestones over time.

Question: What final tip do you have for someone who isn’t ready to give up on their goal?

Michelle: Resolutions are great, but plans are better. My best recommendation for progress and achievement is to focus on habits not results. If you’re trying to lose weight and you get on the scale once a week and it doesn’t move, then it can be hard to continue the good habits when the results aren’t there. Instead focus on the daily, weekly, and monthly ACTIONS you need to take and then you can celebrate every night that you went to the gym or ate 5 servings of fruits and veggies, and you know that you body is getting healthy, even if the scale doesn’t reflect your efforts. Success is NOT a destination, its a practice.