How can I stick with my New Year’s resolutions this year?

It can be difficult to come up with ideas of what you want to change or improve about yourself for the upcoming year. New Year’s Resolutions can be a small habit you want to stop, an improvement to your diet or to start saving money for a special occasion. Regardless of what your New Year’s Resolution is, it can be hard to keep on top of and is likely to be forgotten once January has passed. So here are some handy tips to try and help you achieve your goals.

Plan

No matter what your resolution is, the most important thing to do to help make it work is plan! The easiest way to do this is by writing a list of what you want to achieve by the end of the next year. Put the most important goal at the top so you remind yourself how important it is every time you read it. You could even jot a list down in the ‘notes’ section of your phone if you’re not one for keeping a journal. Try to give time everyday or week to allow yourself to work on reaching your final goal.

Tell someone

If you tell a friend or family member of the goals you are setting yourself for the New Year then you are much more likely to want to achieve them. With reminders coming from those you told, you will be kept on track and keep working towards your target. If you want to keep it between friends you could exchange each of your resolutions and then every week or month (depending on what you want to achieve) you can ask for updates about how they are getting on and encourage each other to stay on track.

Acknowledge your losses and celebrate your wins

It helps to keep a diary so you can keep track of what you have achieved so far and what you still are yet to reach. Decorating the notebook or diary will make you want to look at it and fill it out more. Adding photos as you work towards achieving your goal and then finally the finished piece will make it a nice memory book to look back on at the end of the year and see how far you have come.

Be realistic

There is no point in setting out ten different goals just for the sake of it. Keep resolutions to a minimum so you will not be disappointed by the end of the year by not achieving goals that were unrealistic to begin with. On the other hand, don’t aim to underachieve. Aim high and if there are setbacks along the way, don’t let them hold you back.

These are some basic but necessary tips to help get your year off to a good start. Remember that planning, encouraging others by sharing your goals, celebrating your wins while working on setbacks and keeping your goals realistic are the main foundations to get anywhere when it comes to keeping up with resolutions successfully. Please, please, please don’t be too hard on yourself if you do not reach your goals by the specific time you gave yourself. The fact that you are even attempting to stick at your New Year’s resolutions proves that you are trying your hardest to make yourself a better person. So take it one step at a time and enjoy every second of it.

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