There’s a lot of talk of New Year’s resolutions around this time of year. Have any of yours gone out of the window yet?
I wouldn’t be surprised if many of them have. Lots of people try and re-vamp too much at once, which sets you up for failure. It’s highly unlikely your will power and self-discipline if going to be up to the challenge of changing multiple things at once. So how can we stick to those New Year’s resolutions (or goals that we set at any time of the year)? First of all, just because you might have broken them, or feel like you’ve failed them already, that’s no reason to jack it in all together. That’s like throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Instead, reset, refresh, and have another go. Keep trying. The other major way to achieve success is to break those goals down into daily habits. As Aristotle said ‘we are what we repeatedly do’. It’s then much easier to see a do-able pathway towards your end goal. Create yourself a list of 3-5 habits that you are going to aim to do daily, and then track them. It takes time for a habit to ‘settle in’ and become your new normal, so aim to do it every day for about 30 days. There are a lot of tools out there that can help you do this. There are printable habit trackers, which I like personally for the visual reminder (and therefore accountability) of what you are trying to achieve. Try and pick a small reward, something that you will enjoy when you hit a goal, of say, a certain number of days, to keep you motivated. See below for a picture of mine for this year! Alternatively you can use an app to help you (as ever in today’s day and age, there’s an app for that!). There’re lots out there, but one of the one’s with the highest reviews is coach.me. There’s a great online community to support you in your habits, and it’s free. It also gives you ‘high fives’, recognising your success and helps you stay motivated. Example of habits you can create? If you’re looking to improve health and fitness, you might list habits such as: Drink 2-3 litres of water Exercise 5-10 portions of fruit and veg 10,000 steps daily No alcohol No processed food If you’re looking to improve overall well-being, habits you could create are: Journalling Meditate Daily walk Listen to podcasts Yoga class Family/friend time What habits are you looking to create this year? What methods are you using to support these habits?
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