How to stick to your new years resolution
It’s that time of year again where promises are made to eat better, exercise more and do things to better yourself. As great as it is to have a goal, sticking to your new year’s resolution can be incredibly difficult to do, so today we’re helping you stick to them with some actionable tips.
Tip 1: Make it measurable
Ill-defined goals can be overwhelming because they have so many possible ways to go about them, by defining it you give yourself an easier goal to follow, a measurable one. If your goal is to drink less alcohol, you need to figure out a) how much you’re drinking now and b) what amount would are you wanting to lower it to. Same goes for non-health related goals, if you want to read more, you need to define by how much, one book a month? A week? Being able to measure something makes in inherently more motivating as you can clearly see how quickly you’re progressing, and how close to your goal you are.
Tip 2: Be realistic
Having a goal is great, but it also needs to be realistic and maintainable. If your goal is to gain 10kg of muscle in a year that’s both realistic and maintainable with the right actions, but if its to gain 10kg in 2 months? Less so. Take a minute to think if your goal is actually attainable, and better yet, if it’s maintainable and then work on from there.
Tip 3: Start small
This one carries on from the above point as while it can be tempting to make a massive goal for yourself to aim towards, you can’t expect yourself to completely overhaul your life overnight and be able to stick to it. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither is good health. Small, incremental steps will lead to massive changes over time. Good habits take time and effort, and are far easier to make
Tip 4: Everyone falls off the wagon
Almost everyone will have days where they slip up, and fall off the wagon of their goal. Maybe you ate a whole tub of ice-cream, maybe you skipped the gym, one day is a small drop in the ocean of life. Get back up and keep chipping away at your goal.
Tip 5: Try aim for the snowball effect
Think of your goal, if its to lose weight for example, think about what behaviours will help you reach that goal such as making certain days a week where you make a homemade meal instead of take-away, or playing a sport you enjoy twice a week. Things like this all help you work towards your goal as they are all a part of that ‘healthy umbrella’.
Tip 6: Tell people about it
Sometimes people find it easier to stick to their goals if they’re held accountable by friends or family; so tell them your goals, big or small. You might just find it gives you the extra motivation when you need it the most.
Tip 7: Align your environment with your goal
This one is often not the easiest to do, but can have pretty profound effects on keeping you on track if done right. Aligning your environment just means that you want to make it more difficult to do the behaviours you’re trying to avoid and less difficult to maintain your healthy ones.
If you’re trying to avoid drinking for example, instead of going to the pub for dinner where alcohol is easily accessible, go to a restaurant where you can still drink, but it’s easier to drink in moderation. If your goal is to eat fewer sweets, don’t set yourself up for failure by putting cookies in an easily accessible place where it’s constantly tempting you. Even by just putting them in the cupboard where they’re out of sight and less easy to get can add enough of a barrier you’ll decide not to bother getting them.
By carefully increasing the barriers to the behaviours you’re trying to avoid and lowering the barriers for your goals you will quickly find it easier to build long term habits and spend less time fighting your own temptations.
Take-home points
Sticking to your new year’s resolutions isn’t easy, and won’t happen overnight, but the best ones often have a few things in common
They’re measurable and realistic
They don’t overwhelm you
They promote healthy behaviours in other ways
You are kind to yourself when you fall off the wagon
Your environment is conducive to your goal
A happy new year and may 2020 be your best year yet!