Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions!!

How to Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions

LifeWorks 

Well-Being Experts

Last Reviewed Jan 2018

New Year’s resolutions are a great way to focus on your goals. About 6 in 10 adults make resolutions, according to a Harris Poll. Yet nearly half say they repeat the same resolutions from one year to the next. The most popular resolutions revolve around health and finances. As the pollsters note, New Year’s Day can start to feel a lot like Groundhog Day if you set the same goals and then fail to achieve them year after year.

Start by making a resolution that’s specific, realistic, and meaningful to you. Then think about how you can create the conditions for success. For example, hunger and stress can deplete your willpower. So, if you want to make healthy choices at lunch, you may find it easier to do if you eat breakfast and practice mindfulness earlier in the morning. Read more about strengthening your resolve in Tips on Boosting Willpower and Self-Control.

Below are tips to help you work toward some of the most commonly-cited goals.

Eating healthier was the most popular resolution in the Harris Poll. For the best chance of success, don’t try to overhaul your whole diet at once. Instead, work on one or two smaller changes at a time. For example, you might vow to bring a healthy snack to work every day as an alternative to the vending machine. Or you might aim to have at least one fruit or vegetable of a designated color on each day of the week (red on Mondays, orange on Tuesdays, etc.).

New Year’s resolutions are a great way to focus on your goals. The most popular resolutions revolve around health and finances.

Losing weight is another perennial-favorite resolution. Choose one or two diet goals and one exercise goal to work on at a time. Once you’ve chosen a specific behavior to work on, start each day by asking yourself whether you will do it (for example, “Will I go to the gym before work?”). Research indicates that asking yourself a question, mulling it over, and then answering “Yes!” is a great motivation booster. You’ll find more helpful strategies in Quick Tips for Starting and Sticking with a Weight Loss Plan.

Quitting smoking is the hardest health resolution to keep, according to research by the U.K. Royal Society for Public Health. Of those who made this resolution, only 41 percent were still on track by the end of January, and just 13 percent were smoke-free after a year. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to make success attainable. Learn more at Smokers’ Helpline (Canada), and check out our podcast on Kicking a Bad Habit for Good.

Saving more is the number one financial resolution, according to research by Fidelity Investments. Among those who were most successful at sticking with their financial resolutions, more than three-fourths said their strongest motivator was being able to see the bottom-line benefit. So, before you start a new savings program, think carefully about why you’re doing it. Then remind yourself of this benefit often. For additional pointers, see our articles How’s Your Financial Discipline? and Saving as a Way of Life.

Good luck!