Fulfilling Your New Year's Resolutions
Let’s face it: most of us know that the odds are stacked against us when we make resolutions at the start of a new year. By March, most people have given up their New Year’s resolutions. When you break down the statistics, this is understandable. Fewer than 8% of Americans succeed in keeping to their resolutions from January to December!
But that doesn’t mean you should throw in the towel, too! It just means that you need to find a better way to keep your New Year's resolution commitments and be more accountable for your choices and how they impact other people.
The thing is, you know that being healthier, stronger and happier is a good thing and so does everyone else. So why is it so hard to keep your resolutions? The problem isn’t that you don’t want to change; it’s more likely that you need help making changes that are realistic and sustainable. Join the small group of people who succeed in their New Year’s resolutions by following these tips:
1) Make Your Goals Relevant and Meaningful: Connect your resolution to something meaningful in your life. If you’re trying to lose weight, connect it to your well-being and future self. The more concrete you make your goal the better. It won't work if you're trying to lose weight without making a plan: it just won't happen.
2) Set Small Goals: Resolutions are less likely to achieve success when they are too unrealistic or so broad that it's hard to keep track of all the behaviors and changes that you have to make in order to keep them. This is why setting small goals is so important: it allows you plan your behavior and measure your progress with each day.
3) Make Your Goals Meaningful to Others: Everyone loves to be an encourager, so enlist your family and friends to cheer you on. Ask for their help and support as you work toward your goal. If it’s a weight loss resolution, ask them to help you plan healthy meals or choose a walk together. Plan activities with your family that are healthy and support your goal at the same time.
4) Share Your Progress Daily: It is much easier to feel good about yourself when others know what it is that you're trying to accomplish. If you're trying to lose weight, tell everyone what your goal is and share your progress over time so they can cheer you on. This will help keep you motivated and accountable along the way.
5) Give Yourself a Break: If your goal isn’t giving you the results you had hoped for after a few months, it’s ok to take a break or try something different. Your goals don’t have to be set in stone, so there’s no point in beating yourself up if they don’t work out first time. But it's important to keep trying new things until something works that's truly meaningful and achievable for you long term.
6) Take Things Slow: If you are trying to change diet or exercise habits, it's not realistic to try and make all these changes at once. Start with one thing and give yourself a chance to succeed with that before moving onto another goal. This way you'll be more likely to stick with the process, find new activities that you love and be successful in the long run.
7) Reward Yourself: When your goals are going well, reward yourself. It might be that every time you get up from your desk at work, take a short walk around the block—and then reward yourself with something to eat or do afterwards. It could be a small motivation to keep you going.
8) Don’t Beat Yourself up: Yes, it's really important to celebrate your successes along the way; but it's also important to be kind to yourself when you slip up or don't achieve your goals. Everyone deserves a second chance, and if your resolutions are working for you, that’s great! But if you fall off the wagon, don't stress—just get back on. It's not the end of the world.
9) Reward Yourself: Even if your goal was just to make a change in order to help someone else, it's still important to reward yourself for taking the steps. Think about what you can do for yourself that will make you feel better about yourself. We all need rewards to help us stay motivated, so don't forget about this step!
10) Eat A Healthy Breakfast: Remember, it's important to watch what you eat as well as how much. So start your day off right by having a healthy breakfast that fuels your body and helps you start the day feeling happy and good about yourself. This can help with weight loss goals and also give you energy throughout the day.
11) Be Flexible: Don’t be afraid to change your goal and plan in different ways depending on the situation. If you find that you aren't meeting your goals but you're happy with the changes that are happening, it might be a good time to try a different approach. If you find yourself slipping back into old habits, it might be time to take a break and make changes in a few areas at once so that you can keep up your momentum while getting back on track with your long term goals.
12) Take Time For Yourself: You may be running around like crazy trying to juggle work, family obligations and making changes in order to meet your goals. But don't forget to take time for yourself and your mental health. Get some rest, try a different activity or reconnect with friends whom you've neglected because you're so busy. The more rest you get, the better you'll feel and the more success your goals will have.
13) Be Realistic: Don't be afraid to make changes that will actually work for your life situation. If anything, you should be surprised that it has worked so well. It might also be smart to take a step back and look at the big picture. We’re all living our lives in different ways, so there’s no reason why you can't find what works best for you.
14) Don’t Overtrain: If you are finding that your goals are overwhelming and you're feeling like you're having trouble keeping up with all the changes, reduce your intensity by 50%.
Conclusion
Whether you are trying to reach a weight loss goal, work on your fitness level or make positive changes in your life, the steps listed above can help. Take the time to read them carefully and take action on the ones that seem most helpful to you. You'll be surprised at how much it can help when you begin planning for success and setting yourself up for success.
You don’t have to do everything at once. Even small changes will lead to great results and a better quality of life that will motivate you more than ever before. So think about your biggest goals right now and start planning today!
References:
https://www.amazon.