Happy New Year! We are in 2025 now, and I'm glad you're reading this blog today (or you can also watch this on my YouTube channel or listen to my Dynamic Women Podcast). You know, the incredible energy we feel at the beginning of the year, that excitement to make big things happen? Many of us say, “This is going to be THE year”. But let's be real - that motivation can fade really fast, and now that we’re in the third week of January, a lot of people have already given up on their resolutions. Today, I'm going to share with you three of my favourite strategies for keeping that New Year's motivation alive. Also, it's going to help you avoid burnout and make some real progress on your goals. I'm also going to share how you can stay focused and on track all year long. Importance of New Beginnings There's something really powerful about a fresh start. There's the nice newness and the ability to just say, “Screw last year! Last year is gone”. We get a clean slate. It's a chance to let go of those old habits, old goals, and maybe old people that aren't serving you, to step into something new for a whole new year. I've experienced this firsthand myself. Some years, I'm excited to see the year-end, saying “good riddance,” and other years, I reflect, “Oh, that year was so good!” But no matter where I'm at, when I can get intentional in the new year about what's coming up - when I sit down, map out my goals, and stick to the plan - that's when things really change for me. Having that really clear blueprint. But here's the thing: starting strong is one thing, but keeping that motivation going forward is what makes the difference. Maybe you're thinking, “I've started off strong. I did the plan. I am ready to go. I have a lot of motivation.” The truth is that it's really easy to start strong, but it's not easy to keep that motivation going. That's really what makes the difference in your results. That motivation to keep going and the motivation to reach your goals. I'm sure you've heard now, and I mentioned it a little bit earlier, about how so many people have already failed at their New Year's resolution, and we're only just three weeks into January. I know that when I used to be a bit of a gym rat (meaning I was at the gym all the time, all year, many times a week because I was doing a lot of training for rugby and soccer), I hated going to the gym in January because all those people were there who made their New Year's resolutions. Good for them, but for all these new gym-goers, it made the gym really busy, and I couldn't use the equipment I wanted when I wanted. I was really happy that by the end of January, most of them had fallen off. But as I got into more goal setting and into being a life and business coach, I thought, “I really want them to succeed and reach their goals and continue the motivation towards achieving them. I don't want people to drop off from that New Year energy and motivation. I want the motivation to be sustained throughout the year. Three reasons why motivation fades Reason 1: You get overwhelmed by the big goals If we look at the goal of going to the gym, “I'm going to go five days a week,” and then that quickly turns into being too many, and you're too sore because you’re just starting out. When you're doing some of those activities for the first time, it really can be painful for muscles that haven't been worked. When we set really ambitious goals, New Year's goals, or just goals in general, it can feel exciting at first, but the sheer size of the task or goal can lead to overwhelm. If you say, “This is the year I write my book,” or “This is the year that I'm going to launch my new website,” or “This is the year I'm going to plan this trip and that renovation,” and there seems to be all these massive goals - and that's great, and you should have really great goals - but then people don't know where to start. Then they procrastinate, or they just do what they can, but they get stuck, and eventually they give up. We're overwhelmed by big goals, and that is if they've actually made the right goals. I've said in previous blogs about a lot of times people make the wrong goals because they don't go through an actual process, similar to the process I take people through in The Breakthrough 2025. Reason 2: They have a lack of clear direction. Without a clear path, it's easy to lose focus. Maybe they start strong. They have this goal. It might even be a big goal, but then they're not even sure what the next step is. How do I get there? How do I do it? They feel stuck. Have you ever put together a piece of furniture, like a bookshelf, but you've lost the instructions? Oh my goodness, yes, it's so hard! This happens when you move, and you'll naively say, “Oh, I'll remember how to put the bed back together. There are only five screws.” Then you come to put the bed together, and it's a nightmare. You don't know what the next step is. If you don't have a clear direction or a clear plan, you're going to feel stuck. You're going to lose motivation. That's just how it is. Reason 3: You lack immediate results. It’s hard to have lots of motivation when you don’t see the results quickly. Let’s look again at the gym example, if you're going to the gym three times in the first week because it's a short week. Then, the second week, you go five times, and you come into your third week, and you go twice, and all you've felt is pain, and you don't see yourself getting stronger yet. You don't see the difference in your body yet. It's so natural to be motivated by that instant gratification in the beginning, but big goals, or even small goals, require consistent effort over time. We know that, but even still, when the results aren't immediate, motivation will fade. Practical steps You're like, “Okay, Diane, so if these are three of the big common issues why motivation fades, then how do some people seem to go forward? How do some people seem to stay motivated all year? How do you stay motivated?” Well, while I've given you three ways that motivation can fade, there are so many more. These are the top ones that I'm seeing, at least at this time of year. Here are some practical steps. You need to build in some routines to support your goals Obviously, if we go back to the problems, instead of getting overwhelmed by the big goals, break them down into smaller goals, manageable steps, focus on the micro wins, build your self-confidence and maintain your progress. You need a map. Instead of have a lack of clear direction, you need a map, or as I like to call it, a blueprint, like we have in The Breakthrough 2025. We have the Breakthrough Blueprint, and that's going to help you to provide clarity and help you to know where the next step is. (Side note: you could still join The Breakthrough 2025. I can still help you to come up with that blueprint, that plan, if you don't have it yet, and you're going to be able to get the support you need to have the right size goals and the right focus and the right path.) Rather than thinking of immediate results, focus on that process rather than just the outcome. Instead of feeling like you lack immediate results, celebrate those consistent efforts. Maybe it's not, “Oh, the book's written,” but it's, “I wrote two thousand words today.” If every day you could write 2,000 words, depending on how fast you want to write your book, how big the book is going to be, that's going to help you build the trust in yourself that you can attain this goal and build motivation. Building routines to support your goals Let me go back now to the building routines that support your goals. For example, every day, I spend five minutes in the morning before I get into everything just to review what are my priorities for the day. I look at my blueprint:
I've seen this work really well for my clients. Those participants in The Breakthrough 2025, they tell me all the time how these small habits, these tools - like having their guidelines, having their values, having their theme, and their new paradigm, along with the breakdown of all of their goals, have really helped them to be able to prioritize what they need to do. It's helped one of my clients, I know for sure. She was like, “Wow, this helped me achieve more in one month than I used to do in six months.” Monthly check-ins The other piece that’s really going to help you (they're the practical steps) are monthly check-ins. Because how many times - if these people at the gym in that first month had had more check-ins, more knowing that they were going to have to report to others and say how they did, that would help them. Check-ins also give you accountability because if you know that other people are going to be looking at your goals, looking at your plan, to see if you did it. Are you sticking with it? Yes! Then to have them celebrate you at those monthly check-ins, to be like, “Wow, so good!” We've done like air high-fives or Zoom high-fives before, to acknowledge their results, “Wow, look what you've accomplished! That's so amazing!” That increases the motivation as well. Monthly check-ins with accountability because if you know that by the end of the month you have to report on how you did in that accountability, you are more likely to be motivated by external reasons, and the results and acknowledgments give you more internal motivation. What does this mean for you now? You now know that you want to maintain, you want to keep that motivation throughout the year. That spark of the new year, the new beginnings. You now know the areas causing you to lose the motivation, and you see some ways that you can boost the motivation and sustain that moving forward. Now, the easiest way is to join The Breakthrough 2025. If you're feeling like you could use extra support to stay on track, if you don't want to muster the motivation, then this program is exactly what you need. Probably over 10 years ago, I remember seeing Brendon Burchard, and he said, “Do you know power plants don't have energy? They make it.” It's just like motivation - you don't always have the motivation; you have to make it. But what if someone else could help to boost your motivation? In The Breakthrough 2025, you're going to get a clear, actionable blueprint. It's going to help you map out your whole year with tools to help you combat a lack of motivation and to help you achieve the goals. You're going to get accountability, as I said, and support from amazing, like-minded women, and you're going to have tools to track your progress and adjust when life throws you curve balls or takes away your motivation. Also, coaching and strategy from me. One of my favorite success stories is from a participant who went from feeling completely stuck and feeling like, “I don't think I can do this” and not having much motivation to reaching her goals. She ended up hitting one of her biggest goals within just a few months of joining. She had a massive goal in the first 30 days, and then every month thereafter, she was reaching and clearing off her big goals right away. That's what happens when you have the right framework in place and the right motivation. Wrapping Up You know motivation is something that you need, and the New Year's motivation, the new beginnings motivation is where the magic happens. There is an opportunity for you to carry that forward all the way through the year. Break down your goals, celebrate your milestones, your wins, and stay accountable. Small actions every day, planning every day is going to help you to move forward. I encourage you to take a small action today. What's one thing that you can do to keep the motivation going? Maybe it's writing down that top goal. Maybe it is reaching out to me about The Breakthrough 2025, and if you're ready to go all in, I encourage you to check out The Breakthrough 2025. Do you have questions? Email me at [email protected]. You don't want to miss our first monthly check-in this year so that you can meet the group and have some really great momentum towards your goals and your plan for 2025. Thanks so much for spending time with me today. Let's make 2025 our breakthrough year together. Until next time, stay dynamic. Read my other blogs:
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