Staying Motivated: Positive thoughts for Achieving Your 2018 Goals
Source: Express Employment Professionals’ Refresh Leadership Newsletter
If you’ve stuck to your new year resolutions thus far, consider yourself one of the lucky ones. According to research from Statistic Brain, only about 58% of people stick to their resolutions past one month.
As excitement for the new year starts to wane, it’s easy to fall back into old habits. Whether your resolution was to get back into shape, start a new career, or go into business for yourself, it’s important to find a support system to help hold yourself accountable. Trusted co-workers, for example, make great accountability partners since we spend such a large portion of our waking hours together at work.
Positive self-talk is also key to keeping your mental fortitude in check while working toward achieving new year resolutions. If you wake up each day focusing on your shortcomings or arrive at work with the assumption that it’s going to be a bad day, you’ve already lost the head game and making a positive change only becomes that much harder.
And there’s plenty of research to support that an optimistic outlook on life can have a major impact on overall health and wellbeing. In an article from the Mayo Clinic, the author explains the idea behind optimism and its effects on health.
“One theory is that having a positive outlook enables you to cope better with stressful situations, which reduces the harmful health effects of stress on your body. It’s also thought that positive and optimistic people tend to live healthier lifestyles — they get more physical activity, follow a healthier diet, and don’t smoke or drink alcohol in excess.”
Keep pushing yourself
If you’re teetering on the edge of giving up on your 2018 resolutions, hang in there and remember that although it takes a lot of time and energy to develop new, productive routines, it will pay off in the end. In the meantime, here are some inspirational quotes from a wide range of successful people to give you a motivational push.
“Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement.” – Golda Meir
“People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can’t find them, make them.” – George Bernard Shaw
“Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.” – Dale Carnegie
“Just as we develop our physical muscles through overcoming opposition — such as lifting weights — we develop our character muscles by overcoming challenges and adversity.” – Stephen Covey
“I think goals should never be easy, they should force you to work, even if they are uncomfortable at the time.” – Michael Phelps
“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.” – Maya Angelou
“Pain can change you, but that doesn’t mean it has to be a bad change. Take that pain and turn it into wisdom.” – The Dalai Lama
“Never give up on something that you can’t go a day without thinking about.” – Sir Winston Churchill
