New Year’s resolutions are a great way to set new goals to try to better ourselves. However, it’s too common around this time of year, as the new-and-shiny factor begins wears off, to throw in the towel and call it quits with resolutions. Whether you’ve given up on your New Year’s resolutions in the past, or you’re not feeling confident in your follow-through, there’s still time to vamp it up and stick to it! Be the best version of yourself this year! The gift of a New Year is among us!
With the help of a few bloggers, we’ve rounded up five ways to help you stay on track with your New Year’s Resolutions this New Year:
01 Use an Existing Habit as a Trigger
This is one of our favorite methods we use with members to keep them on track with Tiny Steps. Jeremy Dean, PhD, author of the new book Making Habits, Breaking Habits’, explains here how, rather than scheduling out time to implement your New Year’s goal into a common routine, you can use current formed habits as a trigger. For example, if your New Year’s resolution is to work out in the morning before heading to the office, use a morning routine you currently have, like having a cup of coffee or brushing your teeth, as a reminder to go jogging afterward, rather than scheduling a time to do it.
02 Start a Workout Log
For those of you with the New Year’s resolution of weight loss or exercising more, blogger Michelle, from Diary of an Aspiring Loser, has great insight! She suggests keeping a workout log which will help you stay on track of what you’ve accomplished, help you plan your workouts in the future, and maybe even remind you if you’ve taken one too many days off. Simply find an empty notebook, or use your cell phone, and start documenting!
03 Be Patient
It takes time to see the results you want and for new changes to settle into a common routine. The best way to stay motivated is to be patient and have faith in yourself. Be kind to yourself! Patience in itself is a hard skill to develop. We’ve all been there, sitting in awful traffic trying to get home and just wanting to scream at everyone and everything. Or maybe you’ve been dieting and exercising for a whole month and have yet to see results. Take a few breaths, remind yourself why you’re doing this, and keep going! Over time you’ll build on this strength. Blogger Samantha highlights the importance of patience, especially for those dealing with serious health issues: So how did I become so patient? I learned quickly, once my health deteriorated, that if I wanted to be involved in an activity I loved, slow and steady was the only way of doing it. If I rushed I would literally, physically fall in a heap. A lack of patience in the early days quickly taught me that wasn’t a smart way to live a new life.
04 Don’t Be Afraid to Rest and Reset
It’s okay if you’ve lost track of your goal, allowed yourself one too many cheat days, or even stopped trying for a while. Even If it’s been 3 months since you went to the gym, you can still get back on track! This can also serve as a period of re-centering, and remembering why you set your goal in the first place. Does it still serve you currently and what you want to achieve? Goal’s can change along the way, they are flexible to YOU and your life. You can re-adjust your goals to fit you better along the way. Blogger Emily talks about having a condition and not fully reaching all the goals she sets for herself, It won’t be for a lack of trying or desire. It might be because as hard as I try, my body and mind just won’t let me do it all. I’m learning that it’s okay. It’s alright to be unable to achieve everything we want, even if the world around us gives us messages about working harder and prioritizing. Those of us with chronic illnesses are already fighting an uphill battle just to get through the day.
05 Stay Motivated
Katie, a blogger from Wellnessmama, completely understands the idea of why it’s so hard to keep a New Year’s resolution. She says it’s because along the way we lose our motivation. Her key to staying motivated is taking action, as she puts it: Action breeds motivation, not the other way around.
- First, she suggests that it’s essential to start with a clear vision of your goal and why you want to achieve it and then from there, create measurable short-term goals. Use these short-term goals as checkpoints to review your efforts and even throw in some rewards as an incentive to stay motivated. (Similar to the tiny steps you’ve set with your Health Advisor!)
- Katie also suggests that it helps to continue learning more about your goal, for example, if your goal is to eat healthier than keep trying to learn more about nutrition to stay informed. Follow our blog, sign up for our healthy eating newsletter (at the bottom of this post), and ask your Health Advisor for recipes. This will help you stay focused and keep you motivated, and maybe even become fun!
- And lastly, an overall tip to staying motivated is finding a buddy because everything is more fun with a partner!
Our main takeaway is that It’s difficult trying to stay motivated and build a new habit, especially with all the steps, long lists, and not to mention the hastiness of everyday life. But take one small step in the right direction today, and continue to build on that because it will yield the best results and long-term change.
