New year’s resolutions faltering? Tips to stay committed to your goals

The holiday season may be over, but there’s one tradition that’s still going strong for some people: setting New Year’s resolutions. The new year is a great time to get inspired, feel hopeful towards the future, and click that figurative reset button on life.

After the dreadful time everyone’s had last year, it’s only fair to want better from life. Although we can’t control many things – as jarringly proven in 2020 – we can make an effort to work on ourselves. What better way to motivate ourselves in 2021 than with some meaningful New Year’s resolutions? 

However, it isn’t always easy to follow through on some of the fancy aspirations we set ourselves up with. Failing to keep up with our zealous goals does the opposite of what New Year’s resolutions are aimed to do – staying productive and feeling positive about ourselves. To help staying committed to your New Year’s resolutions and “tricking” yourself into accomplishing goals, we have compiled some tips:

Purposeful goals

Creating substantial & personal goals are more likely to hold weight for many and propel them towards success. Rather than simply thinking of cutting down expenses or reaching a certain weight goal, it is important to realize the deeper reason of why we want to achieve those things and how it might affect our near-future. 

The reasoning will give the New Year’s goals a positive meaning & purpose and will help stay motivated in pursuing them for the long term. 

Write down your goals

As silly as it seems, writing down your New Year’s resolutions on a journal or a calendar will help view your goals more concretely. Physically seeing the goals on a paper stuck to your fridge door or a white board will not only remind you of the tasks every day but also focus on them.

According to the sports magazine Swimming World, using positive language while writing your goals is most likely to create a healthy mindset in approaching them. For instance, instead of writing down “stop eating sweets”, wording it in a more agreeable manner like “eat a cup of greens every day” will allow you to focus on the task at hand instead of stewing in guilt & negativity.

Use peer pressure to your advantage

Just as writing down goals can make them instantly “real”, sharing your goals with family & friends can hold you accountable towards your New Year’s resolutions. 

Occasionally, your folks might remind you of your New Year’s resolutions just like they often do of your bad decisions at family dinner ever so frequently. And, when your peers ask about how the new fitness regime is going, getting ready to show off your progress is better than any excuse you might’ve thought of. 

Jokes aside, confiding in someone about your goals for the new year will offer you their support & encouragement and veer you in the right direction when you think you might go off-path.

Micro-goals

Breaking down a large goal into manageable micro-goals will allow you to take on the task head on. By taking baby steps, seemingly insurmountable goals can be accomplished easily.

Additionally, tackling micro-goals will likely make you acknowledge the progress of your effort. Celebrating your mini-wins will create a positive atmosphere for you to sustain the resolutions long term. 

Pat your back for doing well

Any kind of progress, big or small, is still progress and recognizing the effort behind the progress can be a big motivation factor to not only thrive forward but notice where you might’ve fallen short. 

Don’t forget to embrace your milestones and refuel yourself at multiple stops during the next 365 days to make the best out of your New Year’s resolutions. 

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How do you plan to stay on board with your New Year’s resolutions? Let us know in the comments below!