Do you enjoy making New Year’s Resolutions each year? If you do, you’re not alone. The top resolutions usually involve eating healthier, exercising more, saving more money, and focusing on self-care.
Did you know that only about 8% of people actually keep their resolutions? There are many reasons for this, but the most common reasons are because individuals set too many resolutions or get derailed by small failures. We have a fantastic solution to this-action planning!
Action plans are weekly goals that are concise and focused on a certain task that you are confident that you will accomplish within that week. Once you have succeeded with that weekly goal and have a win under your belt you then have the confidence to build on this and achieve more!
Parts of an Action Plan:
1: Something you want to do. The first step is to choose something you want to do! Your action plan won’t work if you are choosing something someone else wants you to do. You have to WANT to do it!
2: Make it achievable. Choose an action that you can accomplish this week.
3: Action specific. A true action plan is behavior specific. Losing weight is not a behavior, but not snacking between meals is. Make sure your action plan answers these questions.
- What? (specific action)
- How much? (time, distance, amount)
- When? (time of day, or which days of the week that you will perform the task)
- How often? ( # of days in week)
4: Confidence Level of 7 or more. On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 represents little confidence and 10 represents total confidence, your plan should rank at least a 7. If you go through your action plan and your confidence level is lower than a 7, go through and see what you can change in your plan to boost your confidence.
An example of an action plan for someone wanting to eat more fruits and vegetables is:
“I will eat at least one fruit or vegetable serving at breakfast, lunch, and supper 5 days this week during those meals. Confidence level: 8.”
If you would like assistance developing your own action plan for success, please contact Ashley at asvaty@ksu.edu
Ashley and Nora will go Live on Facebook January 2nd. Like and Follow our Post Rock Extension Facebook page to interact with us and focus on your new year goals!
Action Planning, Goals, New Year
By: Ashley Svaty
