5 Tips to Help You Stick to Your New Year’s Resolution
By Elissa Sanci
January 1 has come and past, and we all know what that means—the end of a year, the beginning of a new one and a chance to leave all negativity in the past while starting fresh. This, of course, leads to New Year’s resolutions: declarations and promises to try to be better, whether it’s losing weight, saving money or eating healthy.
The end goal of a New Year’s resolution is lead a happier and healthier life, both mentally and physically. Here are five things to keep in mind as you begin the New Year and start tackling your resolutions.
- Make your resolutions attainable. Attainability is key: no one wants to embark on an impossible journey. Make sure what you want is achievable. If your goal is to lose weight, don’t set a weight loss goal for 100 pounds; that will just seem daunting, and you won’t ever get around to it or even want to try. Amy Cuddy, a social psychologist and associate professor at Harvard, says it best: “When we don’t meet an unreasonable goal, we fill ourselves with feelings of anxiety and lower our self-worth,” which is something you definitely want to avoid.
- Don’t give up when things get tough. Don’t get frustrated when you don’t see the results you want immediately; some things take time. Have patience and remind yourself that Rome wasn’t built in a day, Beyoncé wasn’t born a star and success isn’t always attainable overnight.
- Set smaller goals that will lead you to your ultimate goal. If your resolution is to eat healthier, set small, achievable goals for yourself, like swapping your normal afternoon snack of a bag of chips for a Maia yogurt. You’ll feel a great sense of accomplishment when you stick to reaching these mini-goals, and you’ll be less likely to quit.
- Make sure it’s something you really want. You’re less likely to follow through on something you don’t have a strong desire to do. If your goal is to start running every day, but you hate running, then take a step back to assess the situation. You want to start running everyday because you want to exercise more; then realize that running isn’t the only way to exercise. For instance, Heather Bauer, celebrity RD and author, suggests getting off the subway a stop early, and walking the rest of the way to work to get a little extra movement in the day. Make sure you tailor your resolutions to do things you can actually see yourself doing.
- Make sure what you’re doing is making you happy. If what you’re doing isn’t making you happy, than it isn’t worth doing. There is no point of doing something that will make you miserable, as it will only lead to unhappiness, and, ultimately, failure to complete your resolution. You made resolutions with the ultimate end goal of happiness, and if it isn’t leading you down that path, it’s not worth it.