New Years is right around the corner and you know what that means – New Years Resolutions, especially if you are on social media sites – expect a ton of posts on your timelines and then 3 months later expect a ton of posts about people complaining or patting themselves on the backs for failing at it or sticking to their guns. Either way, they are going to be everywhere.
Try something new this year, here are a few tips to help your resolutions actually stick.
New Years Resolution Tips:
Start your New Years resolution before New Years and you will be ahead of the flood. Once you start seeing your Aunt Sally who is planning to lose 30 lbs by August or your best friend Judy who is going to quit smoking after 30 years – you might start second guessing your resolution to cut down your coffee intake by 2 cups instead of 3 cups per day.
Choose only one new years resolution. Everyone piles on the resolutions like they have been waiting an entire year to actually make a positive change in their lives.
Choose something practical but also make sure it is specific and if it something that requires a little more time to implement create a plan for it. For example, if your goal is to work out more, don’t just say “I’m going to work out more.” You want to come up with a more specific goal like, “I am going to work out 3 days a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday for 30 minutes in the morning.” This gives that little voice in your head less wiggle room to tell you that you worked out once this month which is definitely “working out more” considering last year you didn’t go to the gym once.
From experience, if you choose a goal like not eating anymore sugar or quitting smoking. It’s best to do this cold turkey. Even a small intake of these things in the beginning keeps your body in a state of dependency on them and although you might go back to them in the future, you want to give your body a full on break from it – sort of like a reset in your internal programming.
Keep the posting at a minimum. Sometimes it can help to have some support especially for bigger goals and sometimes it helps to be held accountable – knowing other people are tracking your progress with you can sometimes be beneficial when making resolutions.
New Years Resolutions can be really awesome when we stick with them and if you see you’ve accomplished your goal sooner than later, you don’t have to wait until the end of the year to continue making positive changes in your life!
