How to keep New Year's resolutions
Most of us will enter the New Year with dreams and resolutions, and while some may be good at sticking the course, the majority will give up by February.
According to Statistic Brain, research shows that only 8% of people actually achieve their New Year’s resolutions. So how can you make 2019 the year to change your career, learn a new language or finally save that house deposit?
To help you stay on track and start kicking goals, we’ve put together a list of tips to achieve those New Year’s resolutions.
1. Make specific goals
Start by picking a realistic and specific goal that can be broken down into smaller steps. Reaching these little goals helps to stay on track and gives an extra boost in achieving the larger picture. Make it something concrete, so you know exactly what you are doing. For example, if your resolution is to run a 5km event, then set yourself little milestones each month such as walking every day for 30 minutes, then building it up to a 1km run and so on.
Reaching these little milestones are rewarding and keep you motivated to stay on track.
2. Plan ahead
Set yourself up for success by researching and planning ahead. Once you have established your goal, ensure that you have the right resources available to you. These resources may be the difference in you reaching your goal or not.
Organise yourself so that things can run smoothly; make your new goals a priority. Too often people make excuses about not having enough time, so give yourself a head start by finding room in your agenda to work towards your resolution.
3. Measure and move forward
Giving yourself measurable goals allows you to review how far you have come since you started and can keep you on track. For example if you were looking at saving for a deposit you might set yourself monthly savings targets to hit. Tracking your progress helps in identifying when you hit a plateau, or need an extra boost to keep you moving forward.
4. Find a friend
Enlist a family member or friend to assist you in reaching your goals and advise them of your plans. Confiding in someone can radically increase your chances of fulfilling your goals, as the thought of failure becomes more difficult once the resolution is shared.
One of the most effective tools is using a family member or friend as an accountability guide, someone who can check in with you regularly and give that extra support or motivation when needed. It’s easy to let yourself down, but far harder when a third party is involved.
5. Try, then try again
Resilience and perseverance are the two main sources here. There will be times where you will slip up and fall back into bad habits, but it’s about how you get back onto the horse that matters. Acknowledge your mistake, and recommit to the path towards your goal. Try again, keep trying and you will succeed in reaching your resolution.
