January is here again and along with it a heap of new years resolutions, promises and goals for the year ahead. We get back to our desks feeling refreshed and revived, but for some reason we are finding it difficult to put our new motivations into action. So how do we get started on the right foot and have a positive and productive start to the year?

Write down your goals and objectives, whether its for the day, week, month or even year ahead. By writing down our ambitions, we process them more clearly in our minds and are more likely to embed them into our memories and therefore behaviour. It also helps to have them to refer to whenever we have a bad day or feel a little demotivated.

We are probably all guilty of trying to do a little much in one go sometimes, so why not make an achievable plan to work towards your yearly goals? With a plan, you can see from the very beginning if you’re trying to do too much in one go, and can focus on building up to long-term goals throughout the year.

It may also help to start with the smaller tasks which are usually easier to achieve and don’t lead to procrastination. Start with the smaller tasks which you have the greatest passion for – those should get the ball rolling and make it easier to keep momentum.

We all need a little extra motivation sometimes, so why not set some targets and rewards for yourself? If you’ve given something up for January, why not spend the money you’ve saved on a treat for yourself in February? Or a reward as simple as spending 10 minutes watching TV to reward yourself for an hour of work. If you’ve done a good job then treat yourself – you deserve it!

Everyone is motivated in different ways – for some its praise, for others its reward and for some its pressure. Once you know what it is that gives you the extra oomph, seek it. If you need to put a reward system in place for yourself, or perhaps you even need to put too much pressure on yourself in order to complete the task – do what you know works for you.

There will always be bad days or obstacles that get in the way of our plans. If we can try to anticipate what some of these problems might be, you can be better prepared to not let them scupper your motivation levels. Equally, it is worth accepting that sometimes things just don’t go to plan and that is ok too. It’s all about picking yourself up again and finding another way to get on with things.

We read recently that only 85% of new years resolutions are actually followed until the end of the year, so we hope to help you become one of the 15% who manages to succeed. That might mean setting yourself much more realistic goals from the outset, or it might mean regularly giving yourself a refresh of motivation. Whatever it is, let’s set off on the right foot in January and be positive, realistic and motivated!