Sticking to Your New Year’s Resolutions
With the New Year often come New Year resolutions. Whether you decided to hit the gym, eat healthier or ditch a bad habit, you’ve probably realized that sticking to your resolution isn’t always that easy. According to an article in The Toronto Star, more than 68% of Canadians make New Year resolutions. Only 19% of people stick with their resolution for a whole year with 52% lasting only one month.
As you approach the end of January you may realize your good intentions have fallen out of sight. If you’ve made resolutions and are still sticking to them, good for you! However, for many, between work, kids and life in general, it’s not always easy to stay committed to your goals. Don’t beat yourself down if you’re having a hard time maintaining your resolutions – we are all only human. Hopefully these 3 tips will make sticking to your goals easier.
1. Work on one resolution at a time.
If you came up with a list of resolutions you may feel overwhelmed. Start with one goal at a time and look at the big picture. Is your goal to lose weight? You don’t have to go on a crash diet to see results. Small changes make big differences and if you lose 0.5Lbs per week you’ll end up with a loss of 26Lbs by the end of 2015! Is your goal to eat out less so that you can save money? You don’t have to completely give up restaurant dinners; you may just have to reconsider the types of restaurants you go to and how often. Another option to save money when eating out is to ditch the alcohol, which usually ends up costing the most. If you want to save money in general, start collecting loonies, toonies and $5 dollar bills. You won’t believe how quickly that money ads up. If you want to quit a bad habit like smoking you may need additional support! Ask for help from loved ones and from the medical and/or alternative community. There is a lot of help out there; you just have to ask for it.
2. Talk about it.
Support is important regardless of your resolution or goal. Some people feel they shouldn’t talk about their goals in case they don’t actually accomplish them. Do the opposite! Share your goals with family and friends! You may realize your best friend has the same goal as you – to lose weight or ditch diet pop. You can help each other by sharing your successes and challenges. Take a workout class together or make a point to drink water when going out for lunch together instead of your routine Diet Coke. Speak with your husband or partner about your goals so that he or she can help you stick with them. Again, if you’re trying to lose weight you may not want “junk food” in the house. If you don’t share your intentions that food may still end up the in house making it harder for you and causing you to feel deprived.
3. Don’t beat yourself down.
Regardless of your goal or resolution, take it one day at a time. If your goal is to lose weight and save money but you went to a restaurant and indulged in high carb food, sugar and wine, acknowledge it, accept it and move on. Tomorrow is a new day and you can always start over. The key is, start over! Don’t let one bad day turn your good intentions into old intentions. Perfection is unattainable. Remember the big picture and why you made your resolutions in the first place. Discipline is choosing between what you want now and what you want most. Sometimes what you want most is a large bowl of pasta accompanied by a glass of wine and decadent dessert! Enjoy it!
The truth of the matter is that you don’t have to wait until December 31st to come up with a resolution. If you didn’t make any for 2015, take a moment and think if there is any one goal you want to work toward. Remember, it doesn’t have to be grandiose and small changes make BIG differences!