Let’s be real here: how often do we promise to commit to our new year’s resolutions, only to forget about it by February? Just the other day, I was getting ahead on some of my spring cleaning and I found a list I had made to ensure I stuck to my 2018 resolutions. It worked… until about May, and I completely forgot about it.

So how do we stick to our resolutions throughout the year? How do we stay focused on those long-term goals rather than getting lost in our short goals? How do we keep those resolutions just as important in October as they were in January? Here are 4 ways to help keep your business resolutions at the top of your daily to-do list throughout all of 2019:

1. Set reminders

I told a friend of mine how disappointed I felt in myself when I found the list of goals I had failed to accomplish this year. I was serious about those goals, but somehow they got lost in the shuffle as time progressed. She told me that something she did to help with her resolutions was to set reminders on her phone throughout the year.

So if you need to set monthly, weekly or even daily reminders for the next 12 months, do it. Seriously, take out your phone right now and set whatever amount of reminders you think you’ll need from now until December of 2019.

Got it? Awesome. Let’s move on.

2. Break it apart

When it comes to setting goals for your business, you’ve got to start small and specific. Deciding you want to increase your clientele by 150 percent is great, but how and where are you going to start? Setting large goals can be overwhelming, and that makes it easy to put them on the back burner while you focus on other matters.

Breaking apart large goals into smaller and more specific goals makes it easier to take a little bit of time every day to get closer to your goal.

3. Share it with your team

Whatever business goals you’re setting, it’s nearly impossible to achieve those goals if you’re the only one in the office who knows about them. Talk with your employees about where you would like your business to be by the end of 2019 and delegate the goals. Discuss how everyone can help each other achieve the goals and hold each other accountable.

It’s so much easier to achieve difficult goals when you have a good team building up and helping each other out. Plus, you all will grow so much closer as you work to achieve these resolutions together.

4. Try, try again

The most important thing when it comes to working toward any sort of goal is to understand that falling down does not equal failing. If you have a bad day or a bad month, try again. It is so much better to move slowly – or even take a step back, if you must – than to give up.

When you fall down, ask yourself what you can learn from this experience and how you’re going to do things differently in the future. Stumbling blocks are perfectly normal in anything that helps us to move forward, and they only make us stronger.

Whatever goals you’re setting for the new year, you’ve got to believe in yourself, your business and everyone who helps make your business what it is. Ultimately, be kind to everyone and everything involved. 2019 better watch out – you’re coming for it.

by: Emily Brady

Emily Brady

Emily Brady is a content writer for AFEUSA. Her education in Communication Sciences with an emphasis in journalism from Brigham Young University makes her a great fit for AFEUSA. Emily enjoys writing and often works as a freelance writer in her free time.