Think Before You Resolve: How to Achieve Your New Year’s Resolutions

Lose weight. Get organized. Learn something exciting. Fall in love. These are just a few of the top new year’s resolutions.

All worthwhile goals. Which makes it even more of a shame that, according to a study by the University of Scranton, only 8 percent of people are successful in achieving their new year’s resolutions.

But if you’re thinking that dismal statistic gives you all the justification you need to pass on the resolution tradition this year, think again. The same study found that people who explicitly make resolutions are 10 times more likely to reach their goals than those who don’t.

Before you forgo the resolutions altogether—or make that same old pronouncement about how you’re going to stay fit and healthy this year (and this time you really mean it!)—why not put a little intention into the process to up your odds of success?

A great strategy for thinking though what you truly want to accomplish and how to go about achieving it is to conduct a Whole Brain® Walk Around. This is an easy way to engage your four thinking selves and put them to work on the challenge. The process of “walking around” the four thinking preferences of the Whole Brain® Model will force you to consider the full picture of where you are, where you want to go and what it’s really going to take to get there.

This is not only a great reality check, it’s also a good way to expose your blind spots. Are you overemphasizing certain areas at the expense of something you really need? When you put your whole brain on the task, all of those issues—and possibilities—will come to light.