How to Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions

January 11, 2008 By Matthew Paulson

At the beginning of each year many of us realize that we’re not exactly where we would like to be at in some part of our life, whether it’s our health, our relationships, our hobbies, our jobs or something else. We then resolve to improve some aspect of our life throughout the course of the year, but unfortunately most of these resolutions are never successful, and often there’s no serious attempt to implement them in the first place. If you’ve made a new year’s resolution, here’s how to turn your wishful thinking into a successful change in your life.

Be Specific About Your Goals. Simply wanting to lose weight and get in better shape is not a good goal to have. Instead you should have a specific goal, such as “I want to lose 20 pounds by the 1st of April.” Having a specific goal in mind will give you a “finish line” of sorts and encourage you to do what it takes to meet that goal. You’ll know exactly what you have to do to win and will be able to come up with baby steps along the way to help succeed in that goal.

Come Up With Baby Steps. If your goal is to eat healthier this year, it’s not going to happen overnight. If you simply decide to start eating healthy all the time, you’re much less likely to stick with it. If instead you try to start eating healthier a few meals a week, start cooking with healthier ingredients, trying new healthier recipes, switching to diet soda, and gradually working into a healthy eating lifestyle, you’ll be much more likely to succeed. Instead of diving into the pool head first and hoping that you know how to swim, you’re taking it slowly and performing intentional steps to learn how to swim.

Be Accountable. If you really want to make change in your life, you have to make your accountable to someone. After you have a list of baby steps to accomplish, give them to one of your close personal friends who would be willing to tell you if you were doing something wrong. Ask them to keep you accountable for accomplishing your baby steps and working toward their goal.

A Slipup Is Not the End. One of my roommates recently decided to start waking up at 5:00 AM in the morning, and on the second day he slept through his alarms. Instead of just giving up, he got back on the horse and gave it another shot the next morning. He hasn’t been successful at getting up that early every day, but he’s definitely making progress and moving in the right direction. We have to admit that there will be days when we fall short of our goals. A lot of people tend to quit their resolutions once they don’t stick with their plan for a day or two. Instead we need to persevere and keep working toward our goal. Don’t let one day of not working toward your goal let you down.

Give Yourself Positive Reinforcements. If you successfully meet one of your baby steps for a week or two, reward yourself. Go out and let yourself partake in one of your favorite activities. It could be going to a sports game, a trip to the spa, or maybe even just letting yourself find a cozy place to read for an afternoon.

Don’t Get Complacent. A lot of people let themselves slip once they’ve reached some sort of success. You might lose 5 or 10 pounds and be very happy with the results, so you quit going to the gym as much and going out to eat every now and then. Before you know it, you’re back where you began and now you’re de-motivated. After you reach your goals, remember that you need to keep working towards them. If you’re not moving forwards, you will inevitably move backwards.

It’s a great thing to make New Year’s resolutions, but if you’re going to make one, you should at least be serious about it and come up with a plan to stick with your New Year’s resolutions.

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