How to Stick to Your New Year’s Resolutions
January 28, 2021
A new year often inspires that cliche “new year, new me” attitude that gets people to jump on a New Year’s resolution. However, less than 8% of people stick to their New Year’s resolutions according to some estimates at uabmedicine.org. I’ve put together a guide to help you to be part of the 8% this year.
Make it Personal
This may sound silly, but the first step is to ask yourself what is something you want to do. Not what your parents want, or what your friends want, but what you want. Making a resolution about something you actually want for yourself will drive and motivate you to actually do it.
Simple and Specific
Instead of saying you want to do something, say you will start doing it. For example, you want to start running, so now tell yourself “I will run each week”. Making your goal concrete and specific will make it more effective and put you in the mind of working towards your goal.
Work on a few goals at a time–start small and build from there. Look at your goal, and ask yourself how achievable it is for you and your schedule. If you are unlikely to say that you can absolutely run every day of the week, take a step back and plan to run once or twice a week instead. You are more likely to stick with your resolution when you make it feasible to yourself.
Write it Down and Make a Plan
When you write a goal down it will create a visual image of what you want to achieve. Create a schedule or outline on how you want to go about working towards your resolution. Say you want to read one book a month. List the books you want to read, set the amount of time you want to read each day, then read. Planning ahead will show you what you need to do in order to build the new habits you need to work towards your resolution.
Have a Buddy System
Share your resolution with others. Tell your family, friend, teacher, or even post it on social media. Telling someone will provide support and someone else to hold you accountable. Maybe ask if they want to do your new year’s resolution with you or invite them to create their own. Sharing your resolution with someone else will make it social and overall more enjoyable, because you know someone else is doing it with you or supporting you in the process.
If you Fail, Try Again
It’s okay! Try again the next day. If you took a cheat day and ate that chocolate cake that’s off the new diet, Enjoy it, and know you’re not alone if you slip up on your resolution. New Year’s resolutions can still be achieved any time of the year.
