Usually at the beginning of every year, many folks aim to achieve better things than they did the previous year. To this end they make resolutions.

By the time the first month ends, most have broken the promises they made to themselves, or at best, are struggling to keep to it. First month ends and they resort to making new month resolutions- month by month till this year runs out. If this has happened to you several times, it is traceable to one cause: you have lost trust in yourself.

It is the reason you have lost your discipline, despite knowing what is at stake, the loss and feeling of failure that awaits you as time passes you by.

You see, you have gone through this cycle long enough that your mind is stuck on the fact that you will fail yourself yet again. You may have tried to commit to the change, abstain from distractions and focused on productive activities for some days or weeks; but the moment comes when you begin to feel like you’re wrestling in your head to keep from falling, you just know it deep inside. Your mind begins to swing between hope and fear- hope that you don’t fail yourself again, fear that you will, just as you have in times past.

The first thing you need to know is that you’re not alone.

There are millions of people like you trying and failing to commit to what it takes to achieve their goals. So here is your solution: get accountable to someone. See, you don’t trust yourself anymore because you have lost your self-accountability. So your first way out is to get someone you can answer to, one who you respect enough to accept uncomfortable truth from. And it doesn’t have to be a superior. However, you just can’t go to them talking about what you want to achieve without a plan. And this is where many people get it wrong: it is either they didn’t have a plan, or their plan wasn’t realistic enough.

To create a foolproof plan, here are things you must do:

Define your goal.

State in clear terms what and what you want to achieve. Have a time frame for it. If it is a financial goal, state how much you want to realize within a timeframe and for what purpose. you’re define by time frame.

Break down your goals into little actionable steps and daily routine out of it. Then create a routine around these steps- daily, weekly or monthly, depending what you want to achieve. If it is financial, make a budget with respect to the frequency of your earning. Then decide how much to save and spend (and what to spend on in order of priority). If your goal is personal or professional development, decide how many pages of books to read per day and practices to observe. Make sure you don’t heap up too much so that you become overwhelmed.

Your goals are more easily achievable when you start on an easy note, taking it one day at a time. This helps you become consistent as you internalize your routine . The problem with people most times is they get too excited when they get started on a journey to making a change. The motivation they receive (wherever the source) immerse their senses in a rush of adrenaline. Hence they start on an intense note only to get tired all too soon.

Habits are formed from observing little things on a regular basis. Let’s say you want to read a 300 page book by the end of the month, rather than trying to spend several hours trying to finish it at once, it would be easier to ensure you cover 10 pages per day for 30 days. Consistency over the course of a month is better than intensity of just one or few days followed by a relapse for the next 20-something days. Intensity can be exhausting, but consistency brings mastery.

Have a not-to-list:

This is you identifying the hindrances to achieving your goals. You will discover those little things that steal your time and resources- with your consent. See, if you don’t note them, you will find them contending with your action points. These things are pleasurable but unproductive. It is said that bad habits are best stopped by replacing them with good habits, but how can you really stop them without identifying and articulating them? Whatever is not of value to you should be crossed out.

The annoying thing about your list of not-to-do is that though they are unproductive to you, but productive to those who provide you with the tools that enable you to carry them out. There are programmes in the media designed whose revenue rely on feasting on your time without giving you any value. These include reality shows. You call them entertainment, they call it business. I’m not asking not to have a good time, I’m only saying prioritize. Work deserves the most and best of your time. Only work should be permitted to take your energy and precious time because it is paying you back with earnings and relevant skill mastery. Pleasures of different forms should take a back seat.

These are one of the distractions I talked about in this video

And lastly, trust the process.

Like I said before, you’ve lost trust in yourself. But you still trust, you need belief to keep you going. If you follow through long enough, you will grow by building capacity. With capacity comes confidence; and confidence is a byproduct of self belief. There you are. Your trust in yourself and your abilities is being restored.

It is working…