Christmas has passed... the New Year is almost upon us. With it comes a few more oportunities to gather together, indulge in a few more favorite foods, enjoy a bit of glitz and sparkle as we talk of our plans for the New Year. As we reflect many of us resolve to reproritize our lives, find our bliss, sculpt a new body, overcome poor habits and more. If you are anything like me as the old year comes to a close I am thinking about those plans I made last year and what became of them. For many the frustration of not accomplishing previous New Years goals may lead them to declaring "No MORE Resolutions". For me it emphasizes the need for finding ways to keep my goals on track. I liked what one person had to say on this topic... "I have an action plan and day-to-day activities to make it happen."
Today I thought about this as I read a blog article. It aligned really well with the idea of having an action plan and day-to-day activities to make our goals or resolutions become reality. The key is using inertia and then mixing it with momentum.
The Law Of Inertia says, "An object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an external force."
Interestingly inertia is a property of mass and cannot change but momentum changes as an object changes its velocity.
So what does this all have to do with resolutions?
When there’s a goal that we want to achieve, one of the biggest hurdles that we face is overcoming inertia in order to get ourselves started moving in the right direction. The good news is that once we initiate movement, the law of inertia helps us to keep moving and to continue taking action.
I needed some ideas to overcome inertia and get myself moving toward my goals in this New Year, perhaps you do to. Here are seven ways I plan to overcome inertia and get moving towards my goals, my action plan.
- Shock Therapy
Did you know that individuals are “frozen in place” and we tend to resist change, even when presented with favorable opportunities. Therefore, something is needed to act as a "shock therapy". The idea is that some sort of disruption, shock, or “unfreezing” is necessary. Then it allows for a change takes place as a result of the disruption and finally we area able to re-form or “refreeze” into a new and different state.
- Short Term Wins
Creating small goals for myself between the really big goals helps me to see my progress for what it is...Success!! Quick wins—to energize the change and create momentum. One small goal I have set for myself is to reward myself when I have acheived a 10% loss in my overall weight loss goal.
- Dangle A Carrot
The idea here is to find small appropriate rewards to give yourself for doing what you set out to do. For instance rewarding youself with a healthful smoothie after completing your planned exercise routine or watching your favorite TV show after you’ve published a blog post.
- Use A Stick
Discomfort and pain are also powerful motivators . How can you use it to motivate yourself towards your goals? Deny yourself a treat, such as your morning cup of coffee, unless you take action toward your goal.
Another idea...Charge yourself for every day that you fail to take action. For example, you could ask a friend to charge you $5 for every day that you fail to take action toward the achievement of your goal.
- Fill My Tank
Sometimes we don't tack action on our goals because we lack the ooomph or energy to do so, we haven't feuled our body.
Here are some practical ideas to overcome fatigue.
Take a twenty minute nap.
Drink some water.
Eat a nutritious, healthy snack.
Pray.
Get up, stretch or laugh out loud to get your energy flowing.
Once your tank is full, it’s much more likely that you’ll have the energy that you’ll need in order to overcome inertia.
Clear Vision
Paint yourself a crystal clear vision of what you are trying to accomplish. It should involve all of your senses. Include emotions in your visualization; allow yourself to feel the satisfaction that comes from hitting your goal. As you visiualize your goal allow this vision to pull you toward it. That is, allow the image that you created to pull you out of your state of inertia, and get started towards it.
- Stage It
When you have all the tools prepared to fix a leaky sink it is much more likely you'll tackle it. If you are getting ready to embark on a weight loss plan,it is far more likely you'll start at the planned time if all your shopping has been done and the new food choices are already in your refrigerator. It’s so-oooo much easier to overcome inertia when everything that you need in order to carry out a particular action is laid out in front of you and ready to go.
Remember, the key to the speed of our success as we reach for our goals is using inertia and then mixing it with momentum since momentum changes as we change our velocity. Reaching our goals quickly is much more desirable than reaching them slowly.
I look forward to the New Year with anticipation, excitement and a joy as I plan what I will accomplish and become. I hope you will join me in the journey into this New Year.
"Whatever you do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius and power and magic in it."~Goethe~
