How To Set Your Resolutions For The New Year

The largest problem with most people’s new year’s resolutions is that they are often abandoned early into the year. With all the good intentions of turning over a new leaf, it seems harder than ever to stick to your resolutions. It is especially difficult to stick to these resolutions because of how they are handled in the general population and the attitude associated with them. How many times have you heard someone say, “Oh, I’ve made resolutions, but nobody follows those anyway! I’ll probably end up giving up by the end of the month.” This appears to be the general mentality in society, considering the fact that it is so uncommon for anybody to actually stick to their resolutions.

If you are someone who takes their resolutions seriously, hearing this kind of language from people around you can make it difficult for you to stay the course. If you wish to be successful, there are a few different things that you can do to ensure a higher likelihood that you stick to your resolutions.

1. Choose resolutions that are attainable.

One of the worst mistakes you can make when creating your new year’s resolutions is the creation of goals that are way too lofty. You may feel ambitious about your eventual goals, but you should ask yourself: is it something that you can actually reach this year? Or is it something that will realistically take longer? Even if it is something that will take one year to accomplish, you may wish to consider making mini resolutions that are milestones towards your bigger one. Figure out what you need to do and how you need to get there, and you will find that achieving mini goals along the way helps you feel good that you are achieving something. Consider reading one of my earlier articles for more insight on how to break down your goals into more manageable chunks.

2. Find people who will support your resolutions.

Completing your resolutions alone can be much more difficult than if you had a support system to help you along. It doesn’t really matter who it is that is helping to support you, but in an ideal world it’s someone you interact with frequently. If it’s your partner, there is also an opportunity for them to participate with you. Consider choosing at least one resolution where they could participate with you, and find one of theirs that you can reciprocate. That way, you will both find yourselves much more likely to complete your resolutions than if you were by yourself.

On the other side of the coin, try to avoid people who will put your resolutions down or tell you to quit. Generally speaking, if it’s something harmless or designed to improve your life (like doing exercise or cleaning the house), it doesn’t really need any further consideration for whether or not you should be doing it. You will know those people who are putting you down just for the sake of it, because they will say things like “you’re just going to give it up anyway” or “you’re just wasting your time.” There will be people who are going to be trying to give you good advice as well, don’t mistake them for this type of people. It is a good idea to listen to those who are genuinely trying to help you.

3. Schedule an event on your calendar and set reminders for your resolutions.

If your resolution will be something that you do on a regular or repeating basis, it is always useful to dedicate time slots towards achieving your goals. If you have a calendar in your phone, it has the very useful advantage of reminding you when an event is coming up, and is customizable to your preference. It is most important that you stick to the scheduled time that you have set aside for your resolution, as it means that you will potentially build a routine. Routines make it much easier for you to continue working towards achieving your resolution, and much more likely that you will commit to it each time period. Pretend that the events that you schedule are set in stone and can’t be changed, making it that much more likely you’re going to commit. Obviously emergencies come up and should be taken seriously to push your resolution aside, but try to ensure those are as few and far between as possible for the best chance of success.

Obviously, these are but a few of the things that you could do to stick to your resolutions and you should always include a few of the methods that work for you. These are just some of the ways I have found are helpful for me in my day-to-day, and are honestly useful for just about any task you might have to complete.

Here’s to a year of successful resolutions, and we hope you have a Happy New Year!