How many times have you told yourself that THIS is the year? This is the year you’re finally going to keep all of your New Year’s resolutions. This year you’re finally going to stick to that new diet. You’re going to become a gym rat. You’re going to find the time to meditate every day. Here’s how to actually keep your New Year’s resolutions. This year IS the year.
Get Specific
So you’ve made a few resolutions. Maybe they’re something like “lose some weight” or “spend more time with family.” Either way, they’re probably not too detailed. Sometimes these resolutions leave you without an action plan, which is exactly what you need.
Here’s what you have to do, GET SPECIFIC! Break down that resolution into tiny bite sized pieces. If you don’t know where to start, let’s break out one of my favorite grade school lessons, the five w’s: who, what, when, where, and why.
If your goal is to lose weight you should be asking questions like this:
- Who will hold me accountable?
- What will I do to lose this weight?
- When will I exercise or go grocery shopping to meet this goal?
- Where will I be working out?
- Why is this my resolution?
Also, while your goal may be to lose weight, you have to say how much weight. The more specific you get, the better your chances are of achieving it. The same goes for other resolutions. Instead of saying “my resolution is to spend more time with family,” you should say “my resolution is to dedicate every Sunday to my family.”
Get Realistic
I will be the first to say that I have overestimated myself in a number of New Year’s resolutions. Go to the gym an hour a day? Yea right. Stop eating fast food completely….oh please.
It’s important that you know who you are and what you are actually capable of. If you have never been one to consistently go to the gym, are you really going to be able to go to the gym every single day starting in 2019? Probably not. However, will you be able to start out by going to the gym twice a week and build up to more than that over a few months? Of course!
Start small and build up! The new year isn’t some magic time of year where you’ll instantly become the person you’ve always wanted to be. It takes hard work, dedication, and a realistic approach.
Be Positive
What does positivity have to do with your New Year’s resolution? EVERYTHING! Have you ever made a resolution and the second you break it, it’s all downhill? You completely stop going to the gym or you give up on the new hobby you’ve taken up? I am right there with you. Here’s where staying positive comes in. You have to know that there are times you will fail, but it doesn’t mean that you should give up.
If you caved and drank a soda when you told yourself you were done with sugary drinks, say to yourself “I may not have succeeded with my resolution today, but I will tomorrow.”
There are also a few other tricks to stay positive:
- Interrupt the negative thought. If you find yourself in the middle of thinking you should give up, internally yell STOP. Stop that negative thought in its tracks and replace it with a positive one.
- Find a positive environment. Make sure you are spending time with people and in places that have a good influence on you. You want to be in situations that make achieving your resolutions easier.
- Sleep well. Of course this one seems obvious, but a lot of people don’t do it! It’s way easier to keep yourself in a positive state of mind if you aren’t grumpy from a lack of sleep.
So there you have it, a few ways to help you finally keep your New Year’s resolutions. Good luck to you in all your endeavors in 2019. Happy New Year!
