5 Tips For Sticking With Your New Year's Resolutions
Photo by Content Pixie on Unsplash
Did you know that in the US, nearly 40% of people set New Year’s resolutions, but only 9% successfully keep them? To say that New Year’s resolutions can be hard to keep is an understatement. Often times resolutions are coupled with an all-or-nothing approach, which, needless to say, can be difficult to maintain over time. So many people are quick to brush them off as pointless, while others jump into a life-altering course overnight.
And then there are those of us who fall somewhere in the middle.
Personally, I believe New Year’s offers us a great opportunity to stop and reflect on our lives. When we fall into our daily routines, we can easily find our days passing by without any realization. Days turn into weeks, weeks into months, and before we know it, an entire year has passed. So while I’m not convinced life-altering goals are necessarily always sustainable resolutions, I do believe there are benefits to setting resolutions, including:
1. Using New Year’s to reflect on our lives
As I just mentioned, life can quickly pass us by, sometimes without any realization. Having the previous year-end and then a new one begins provides a break in time where we can step back and reflect on where we are, what we’ve accomplished, and what habits we've formed. If we’re unhappy with where we are, what we do, or who we do it with, we can use this time to start making changes in our lives. This isn’t to say that we can’t make changes without that break in time, many folks just find it easier and more tangible to do so around a more significant time.
2. Personal growth is important
I am a huge advocate for personal growth, development and lifelong learning. Of course, these things can (and should) happen throughout the entire year, but it can be hard to do without first having time to reflect on our lives. Use this time to believe in yourself, visualize your goals, and work towards your own personal growth and development.
3. Can be a good time to do it with others
Seeing as many people use this time of year to reflect on their goals, you may find yourself setting similar resolutions to those around you. As the old saying goes, misery loves company, and sometimes tough things are made easier with people around you to help you stay accountable.
Also read: 10 Reasons Why It’s Important to Not Compare Yourself to Others
Setting SMART Goals
Resolutions are simply just goals we set for ourselves, and setting SMART goals specifically can help us achieve them easier. SMART is an acronym that stands for: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-frame, which typically represents the baseline formula for successfully attaining your goals.
Let’s break it down part by part by using the goal of walking more.
Specific: While the goal of walking more is a fabulous goal starting point, it’s slightly ambiguous. What does walking more look like? How do you know if you’ve actually walked more? Try to make your goal as specific as possible. For example, instead of saying, “I’d like to walk more”, try defining what that looks like, such as “I’d like to walk four times a week for 30 minutes.”
Measurable: Setting a specific goal can help to make sure it’s measurable, too. When you have a goal set of walking four times per week for 30 minutes, you’re able to reflect at the end of the week to see if you’ve achieved it or not. By measuring your progress you can tell how your goals are performing and can pivot easier along the way if needed.
Attainable: It’s up to you to decide if your goals are attainable for you and your lifestyle. If you work from home, it may be attainable to walk four days a week on your lunches, whereas if you work in a profession where you are on your feet all day it may not be. Similarly, if you have a dog, going for walks may feel more effortless than if you don’t. The goal is to do what is attainable for you, knowing you can adjust along the way as your schedule or life changes.
Relevant: Is this goal truly relevant to your life? Is this something that will benefit you, make you happy, or help you out? Focus on the relevance and the significance it'll bring to you.
Time-frame: They say that a goal without a date is just a wish. There are many different ways you can break up your goals into a time-frame: this could look like anything from specifying how many times you want to do it a week to giving yourself a deadline for when you want to achieve your goal.
5 Tips For Sticking With Your New Year's Resolutions
Now that we’ve talked a bit about why resolutions are beneficial and how to set goals, let’s talk about how to stick with them.
1. Set reminders
I’ve said this time and time again, but life gets really busy sometimes and it can be hard to stay on top of our to-do lists. Set reminders for yourself to encourage yourself to work towards your goals. This could look like a daily reminder to get up and walk or a weekly reminder to keep up with your new hobby. Reminders help us stay consistent and keep our goals at the top of our minds.
2. Have an accountability partner
Truly one of the best parts about starting a New Year’s resolution is the fact that a lot of folks are in the same position. Find an accountability partner with similar goals, and encourage one another along the way. It’ll make the challenges that will arise easier to navigate.
3. Be kind to yourself
Be kind to yourself if(/when) challenges arise, setbacks happen, or you need to pivot along the way. Life is a journey, and your goals will still be worth it regardless of how long it takes you to get there.
4. Focus on the habits instead of just the end goal
Fall in love with the process as much as you love the end goal. Enjoying the journey will help you stay consistent as opposed to obsessing over the end goal.
5. Keep going
Typically, it takes over two months to form a habit so even when things feel tough, keep going. Adjust your goals if you need to, alter your timelines, but don’t give up. You can do tough things.