Did you know that Research (over 800 million activities) conducted by Strava, the social network for athletes, has discovered that Friday, January 13 is the fateful day when your motivation for your new year’s resolution may waver? Did you know that only about 9% successfully keep their New Year’s resolutions?

Why does all of this matter?

Statistically speaking you might have already quit your new year's resolution and I wanted to remind you that…

• It is fine to lose motivation.
• It is fine to start all over again.
• It is fine to change goals and set more realistic ones.
• It is also fine to just stop.

You have not failed and just because it hasn’t worked yet doesn't mean it never will. What can you do different? What I do when I get stuck is simple.

1)     Accept: Be realistic, whatever you did before did not work and you need a new strategy and a new way to execute. To move forward you must accept reality. Genuine acceptance (seeing things for what it is and not what you feel they should or could be) leads to clarity. Clarity only happens if it is met with genuine introspection and reflection. Clarity is important for the next step.

2)     Analyse: Replay your steps, and learn what went wrong. What did not work? It might not be what you think. Your plan might not have been a bad one in general, just a bad one for you at this time or in your particular circumstance. Proper analysis makes way for transition.

3)     Adjust. Now comes the hardest part. Decide what needs to change. You don’t have to get it right the first time. You might need to experiment to find the right solution, and this is okay too. The best results are often gained by continuous experimentation. Continuous experimentation isn’t a one-time thing and accepting this is crucial to obtaining your goal.

After all, it was never really about following a particular process to achieve your goal but achieving the goal itself.  Build a process that is viable, feasible, and produces “incremental” success. Incremental success is much more sustainable than large jumps.

We don't aim to complete a marathon if you haven’t learned to run 5 minutes yet. Even running 5 minutes requires training and a smaller objective if you have never done that before.

Ultimately, success in your new year’s resolution will be largely determined by “your mindset”.

Your mind, reasoning, and approach are what make you unique. Now use it to design a unique and bespoke strategy. Don’t look for the linear. Humans are almost never linear and you are no exception.  A unique person deserves a unique solution. Wouldn’t you say so?

Now get back on it. Never forget why you picked that goal in the first place.

“Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” ― Winston S. Churchill