However, within hours, days or weeks, many of our New Year’s Resolutions have been broken.
Staying on track and keeping your New Year’s Resolution is much easier than you think. We researched some of the most effective ways to make your New Year’s Resolutions last to help set you up on the road to success.
Choose one resolution
Rather than choosing several different resolutions and spreading yourself too thin, choose one thing that you would like to do and focus all of your energy on that. It may well be that you want to lose a certain amount of weight or give up smoking. Keeping that one goal in mind and focusing your attention on keeping that goal intact, will lead to a better chance of success.
Be realistic
Choosing a realistic goal that is achievable will help you to stay motivated and on track. For example, aiming to save a thousand pounds a month towards a holiday might be unrealistic and restrictive due to your circumstances, but sitting down and creating a manageable budget that you can stick to will help you to save a reasonable amount that you can afford.
Careful planning is important
Careful planning is important when you’re trying to make a New Year’s Resolution that you can stick to. If you want to eat healthier, research affordable and quick recipes on the internet or look at meal prepping. For those hoping to take up running, make sure that you have everything prepared so that there are no excuses. If you want to save up, go through your bank statements and look at any unnecessary purchases you have made, how much could you save by making coffee in a travel mug and not picking up a Starbucks on the way? Every little helps!
Anticipate problems
Accept that some days are going to be harder than others, perhaps you woke up late and didn’t have time for a run, or you went out with friends and couldn’t resist the temptation to have a cigarette? Anticipate that you will find it difficult. After all, you have been doing the same thing for years and change does take time. Instead of being disheartened, reflect on the struggle that you experienced and plan something to mitigate the issue if it arises again.
Small steps lead to big results
The most effective way to stick you your New Years Resolution is by taking small steps first. Planning to run a big race? Start off by going for a brisk walk and building up
momentum until you are running. By taking things one small step at a time, this helps to keep you motivated and means that the becomes more enjoyable. As you reach your smaller goals, this encourages better motivation.
Avoid past failures
If you make the same resolution every year, and break it every year, the chances of success are pretty low. Be realistic in what you think you can achieve and start the year with a brand new goal in mind. Who knows? If you are successful in 2020, perhaps you will be ready to make the change you have struggled against previously.
Ask family and friends to support you
Speak to family and friends about your New Year’s Resolution and ask them to support you. If you’re giving up smoking, asking them not to smoke in your presence whilst you’re dealing with cravings removes the temptation to light up alongside them. This helps to ensure that you have a better chance of success.
Make notes
Making notes helps you to chart your success and work out if there are any triggers that are hindering your chances. If you find it more difficult to go out for a walk in the mornings, but discover that you enjoy them more in the evenings, making notes can help you to plan better and improves your chances of sticking to your New Year’s Resolution.
Remember that change takes time
Bad habits take years to build and change is a process that is going to take a lot of time. There will be times when you will find it a struggle and that’s okay. Just keep going and pushing forward with your goal in mind. If you find that you stumble, that’s okay too. Learn from the experience, don’t be too hard on yourself and start again the next day. This might mean that it takes longer to achieve your goal, but the important thing is that you are going to achieve it. This is a process, not a race.
Keep motivating yourself
Keeping a chart of your success helps to keep you motivated because you will see how much you have changed since you first began your journey. With each milestone, give yourself a reward. Rewards help to motivate us because they give us something to look forward to. If you’re giving up alcohol, putting away money that you would normally spend on drinks means that you’ll have a lump sum to spend at the end of your first milestone. Depending on how much you used to drink, there could be a nice tidy sum for you to use on something booze-free and fun!
Take responsibility for your decision
Staying on track will be hard at times, but instead of falling into the trap of blaming other people when you are struggling, remember that you made the decision to make this change, and you are the only person who can make sure that you stick to it. Taking control of your decision and accepting responsibility for your actions will help you to keep on track with your plan.