How To Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions

Every year it seems that people make New Year’s Resolutions only to abandon them during the second week in January, but this can be avoided with a little planning.

Make a New Year’s Resolution AND Keep It!

I’m not sure why so many people make New Year’s Resolutions and then are surprised when they don’t stick to them. I stopped making New Year’s Resolutions years ago and instead decided to make a mid year resolution – this one I kept. Was it because I made it during the year? No. The reason I kept my resolution was because I set it as well as setting a plan.

The most common New Year’s Resolutions seem to be about losing weight, getting fit, getting out of debt or quitting smoking/drinking/chocolate.

Unfortunately these are often not kept because you need to plan them.

Step One to Keeping Your New Year’s Resolutions

Set Realistic Resolutions

If you’re going to set a New Year’s Resolution set just one or two don’t decide you’re going to do everything as it’s just not realistic so instead of giving up drinking and smoking at the same time choose one of them to focus on.

Writing Down Your Goals

I’ve found that when I write down my goals I’m more likely to achieve them, part of that is because it’s in writing, but I’m sure a lot of it is because when I write it down I also write a plan as to how I’m going to achieve the goal.

These gorgeous notebooks can be used to write down your New Year’s Resolutions and plan how you’re going to keep them.

Step Two to Keeping Your New Year’s Resolutions

Planning

Make a plan as to how you’re going to keep your resolution, just deciding you’re going to lose weight isn’t going to make it happen you need to make a plan. Part of your planning should include mini goals.

For example if your New Year's Resolution is to lose 10 kilos then you need to set a target such as 1 kilo by this date, 2 kilos by this date.

Pink & White Swirl Notebook

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Flip Flops at the Beach

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Step Three to Keeping Your New Year’s Resolutions

Rewarding Yourself

When you’ve broken your resolutions down to smaller goals you need to reward yourself when you meet them.

An example would be if you’ve decided to get fit by walking and you’ve decided your first goal is to walk 5 km per day then you can reward yourself with a massage once you’ve managed to do that before moving on to the next mini goal.

Keep A Resolution Journal

I have found that by keeping a journal of how you’re going it helps you to stay on track and make sure you’re following your plan. A resolution journal is also something you can re-read before setting new resolutions the following year and help you to keep on track for years to come.