According to research studies, 50% of Americans make a list with their New Year’s Resolutions: losing weight, drinking less alcohol, and save money are in the top of our lists. However, only 12% manage to achieve these goals. That’s why here we’re going to tell you some strategies that can help you achieve your New Year’s Resolutions.
You can prepare yourself to succeed in your resolutions
Changing our behaviors is no piece of cake, and might be a harder work than we expect. One of the biggest problems is that we’re not properly “ready” for changing our lives only because we change of year.
If you really want to succeed, being prepared for these changes is an essential stage. And even if we know there are no foolproof plans, we all need a start point. Here are some strategies you can use to be prepared for your New Year’s resolutions:
- Commit yourself when you’re TRULY ready: There are some times which are definitely better than others; goals are easily achieved when the context is suitable for them to happen. For instance, if you decide to go on a diet during the holidays, it’s very likely you’ll end up, either falling off the diet wagon, or become really frustrated. But if you choose a time when you know you can prepare your own meals and won’t be so socially active, your diet won’t become a nightmare, but a definite success!
- Be aware of success and failure: Leaving bad habits behind is not that easy, and you may have relapses. If you plan how this could happen, you can make a contingency plan. You can even try to re-commit one month from your start date and see how things are going.
- Go for specific and measurable goals: It isn’t very effective to say “I want to lose weight”; but if you say “I will work out three days of a week for 30-minutes” you can be measuring your progress towards your deadline and not just leave your resolution up in the air.
- Start with the most reachable goals: If we begin with small and manageable goals, which success we can see in a couple of weeks, we feel very motivated to add more goals… and successes!
- Strengthen your willpower: As Roy Baumeister suggests, willpower is limited. Every time we start a new behavior or quit an old one we use our willpower “supply”. If we set too many goals, we get physically and mentally exhausted. If you try to achieve them little by little, you’ll have more chances to succeed and, therefore, you’ll strengthen your willpower.
- Build your resilience: What doesn’t kill us make us stronger, and gives us the chance to adapt well in the face of adversity and to be able to bounce back from setbacks. When we’re resilient, we can fall and stand up again to achieve our dreams.
- Reward yourself when succeed: Instead of punishing yourself for missing goals, be proud for what you’ve achieved. Start thinking about what your rewards will be. Just remember these rewards should be meaningful for you and motivate you to fulfill your resolutions.
New Year’s resolutions are a good way to bring out the best in us and improve our lives. If you really want to make some meaningful changes this coming year, #DoItNow, there’s no better way nor time to start. And by the way, Happy New Year!