3 Ways to Achieve Your New Year Resolutions

The beginning of a new year always brings opportunity and a sense of renewal. So many of us make this time of year the GO time that we have been waiting for to conquer those bad habits and start something new. A fresh start calls for a new year resolution or two to help us progress, improve and feel productive. While you can really do that anytime of the year, January 1st beckons to us to make these promises and put our best foot forward. But what about January 10th? 20th? 30th? What about the coming weeks and months when that motivation starts to wear thin? Let’s talk about some ways you can stay on track with your new year resolutions and meet those goals with ease. 

1. Small Changes = Big Results

Regardless of how lofty your goals are, you can achieve them if you focus on making small changes to your lifestyle. Breaking actions down into micro-steps makes your new year resolutions easier to accomplish, and allowing yourself more frequent celebrations of those milestones leads to steady motivation.

Rather than promising yourself that you are going to drink 100 ounces of water everyday, start with drinking a full glass of water each day when you wake up. Instead of making 40 pounds your weight loss goal, break it down into 5 pound increments and celebrate each one. Here are a few more ways to manage common resolutions and make them achievable:

New Year Resolution: Save Money

Small Step Options:

• Get a piggy bank and save your change. 
• Transfer $25.00 per week into your savings account every Friday. 
• Sell items around your house and save the revenue from that venture alone. 

New Year Resolution: Exercise More Often

Small Step Options:

• Start with just taking two walks per week and build from there.
• Utilize YouTube to try the various shorter workout videos available.
• Work more exercise into your daily activities by taking the stairs, parking farther away from destinations or doing squats while you brush your teeth. 

New Year Resolution: Spend More Time with Friends and Family

Small Step Options: 

• Schedule a standing monthly lunch or coffee date with friends. 
• When you can’t meet in person, do a video call instead of just voice to make it more personal. 
• Send cards, emails and leave notes to stay in touch when you can’t be together.   

By taking small steps and celebrating those tiny victories, your resolutions become much more manageable and achievable. Don’t over-commit or pysch yourself out with lofty goals that will lead to a sense of failure. Each day you are able to take small steps to improve your overall wellbeing will lead to big results in the long run. 

2. Better Not Perfect

We are often so fast to give up on our goals when we falter or mess up. How many times have you tried to eat healthier only to give up completely when you blow it during a holiday dinner? We are hard on ourselves, and this attitude leads to lost motivation, negative self-talk and sometimes giving up completely.

Consider the mantra of “better not perfect” the next time you find yourself straying from the path. Everything you have done to that point has made you better. Each tiny step you took and small goal you achieved has improved your health, lifestyle and experience. You are not a failure if you misstep. You are simply human, and you deserve the grace you would extend to a friend in that same situation. Treat yourself like a friend.

You do not need to be perfect or achieve your goals perfectly. If you mess up, simply establish a new goal to make tomorrow a little better. Before you know it, all that grace you allowed yourself will add up to big time resolution results. 

3. Find Your Accountability

This one is huge! Accountability when you are trying to achieve anything can be the absolute game changer when it comes to success. It is basic psychology that we do not want to disappoint our fellow humans. We are much more comfortable with letting ourselves down because we can so easily not hold ourselves accountable. We can make excuses, hide the responsibility under a mountain of coping mechanisms or simply convince ourselves that it is not important to show up and do the work. Finding a source of accountability can make or break your new year resolutions.

Here are a few options for making accountability part of your journey. 

• Find an “Accountability Buddy” – This could be a friend that expects you to show up for your walk or class, your spouse, your parents, a coach, anyone you respect and acknowledge as an important person in your life can fill this role for you. Share your goal with this unicorn of a person and ask them to help you. Their role is only to have an expectation that you will show up and do the work when you said you would. Just the expectation is often enough to encourage you to follow through. 

• Get an App – Technology has become such a huge influence in our lives, and you can use that to your advantage in this situation. Find an app that is geared toward your goal. A weight loss tracker, activity log or savings manager. There are tons to choose from and having that technology to help you keep track of your progress can keep you accountable. A lot of apps have a “gamification” feature that makes achieving goals feel like “winning” and that is just fun!

• Sign Up for Something –  Nothing will get you moving like a scheduled event penciled into a planner. Sign up for a class, seminar or professional services appointment that will help you reach your resolution goals. Having that upcoming event on your calendar can keep you on track for hitting all those little milestones along the way. 

We hope you found these tips for staying on track with your new year resolutions helpful. This time of year and the goals you set can lead to many amazing changes in your life that benefit you long term. Brookview Wellness would love to be your partner as you achieve your goals and better your health in 2022. Give us a call, and let’s do this together!