New Year’s Resolutions – How to Make and Stick to Them A Wirral Mums Guide to Making and not Breaking Your New Year’s Resolutions
New Year’s Resolutions – How to Make and Stick to Them
INTRODUCTION
Millions of people make New Year’s resolutions each year but not very many of them actually stick to them for longer than a week. They may sincerely want to make changes to their lives and that’s the reason people make resolutions. It isn’t that the desire isn’t there or that their reasons for wanting to change aren’t strong enough, it is simply much easier to continue to do things the way you’ve already done them.
Why do people make resolutions?
The real question to ask yourself is what motivates you to make resolutions? Do you sincerely want to improve yourself or are you feeling the effects of overindulgence over the Christmas and New Year holidays? Are you overly full from eating too many sweets and your clothes are beginning to feel tight or do you want to change the way you eat in order to improve your health? There’s a big difference in the amount of commitment you’ll have depending upon how you answer that question.
The more enduring your reasons for wanting to change the better chance you’ll have of succeeding. If you want to make changes to your life only because you’re uncomfortable at this moment, it is very likely success will elude you. When you realize making any change to your life may be uncomfortable and will require dedication, and you still want to make them, you’ll have a much better chance that you’ll meet your challenge head on and actually come out on top.
Why do people break resolutions?
Fear of failure is one reason why people make resolutions and then don’t follow through with them. They may be afraid that they’ll make an effort to change and the people around them won’t notice. They may also be afraid that the people who are important to them won’t appreciate the changes or they'll be made fun of for trying to better themselves. If this describes you, don’t let fear of failure or what others will think stop you from making and sticking to New Year’s resolutions.
Think about when people make resolutions. They’ve just spent a ton of money on Christmas gifts, they’ve probably overindulged in all types of sweets and they haven’t exercised. They may have noticed the extra pounds creeping on and begin to dread January’s credit card bills. It’s easy to decide to make sweeping changes to your life when you’re frustrated. When reality sets in, however, and you’ve had a chance to think about your resolution, you may find it wasn’t such a great idea after all.
People may also give in to their old habits because they feel deprived. They’ve been used to eating the way they want or whipping out their credit cards without giving it a thought. Now that they have this New Year’s resolution to think about they can’t do those things any longer.
You may also decide that January isn’t the best time to start making changes. Working out in the cold isn’t as easy as running when it’s warm outdoors. Either that or you have to bundle up, drive on potentially icy roads and pay for a membership at a gym. Neither prospect is that appealing.
Another common reason why people give up on their resolutions is that they’re not getting the results they want as quickly as they’d like. Making changes requires you to be
committed and willing to put for the effort required. Many times making changes causes people to experience discomfort of one type or another. It’s no wonder they talk themselves into not following through. It goes to show people who don’t continue to push themselves until they succeed are human.
You convince yourself it would be much easier to lose weight when fresh fruits and vegetables are in abundance so you’d rather wait until spring or summer to begin the process of tackling those excess pounds. The problem with putting off working toward your New Year’s resolution or goal is that when that time rolls around you probably will have completely forgotten about your resolution and nothing will have changed.
Is that really what you want to happen or are you ready to grab the bull by the horns? What are the things you’d like to change? What skills would you like to learn over the next year? Think about those questions and how you will answer them.
Some Types of New Year’s Resolutions
Making New Year’s resolutions takes desire to change above all else. If you’re not serious about making changes in the first place it is unlikely you’ll make it past the first day much less longer. Think about the types of resolutions people generally make:
Spend quality time with family and friends. This is a resolution made by around 50% of all people in the country. These people have a tendency to work long hours, bring work home with them or work from home. Even if they’re physically in the area of their loved ones, they may not be available mentally or emotionally. The resolution may be more ‘I won’t work so much’ as it is to spend more quality time with those who are important to them.
Take time to exercise. Many people want to be in better shape than they are but for one reason or another they simply don’t make the time to exercise. They may even understand the important health benefits of being active as well as how exercising gives you energy for everyday life. Those making this resolution may have an ‘all or nothing’ attitude. They may start out doing well and then miss a time or two so they give up and stop completely.
Eat better and lose weight. So many people are overweight these days the medical profession is calling it an epidemic. To succeed at keeping this resolution you’ll want to make small, attainable goals and stay focused on the end result when you feel like you want to give up. It also helps if you can get family and friends to join you so you’re more likely to meet your goals.
Quit smoking. This is a common New Year’s resolution which is made and broken each year. Those wishing to stop smoking may want to speak with their doctor about their desire to quit, what the benefits are and what method is best to help you succeed. Smokers who have tried to quit in the past and haven’t achieved their goal may want to try again. Normally it takes trying at least four times before they’re able to quit smoking for good.
Quit drinking. This is often seen as a more difficult resolution to keep. People may try to quit cold turkey; this is one of the most difficult methods. Instead, drinkers who succeed at quitting do so gradually. Seek outside support as well as that of your family and friends.
Get out of debt. The current economic situation makes this a goal most people in the country have whether they make it a New Year’s resolution or not. However, this is one of the most common resolutions people make. Depending upon your financial situation, you may want to find a financial counsellor to help you develop a plan to get out of debt next year.
Get organized. This one resolution is something that most people have on their list year after year. Perhaps you need to do a whole house clean-up and organization or you could simply want to get your office organized enough you can find all of your bills so they’re paid on time. Whatever your reasons, rest assured you’re not the only one who wants to get organized for the New Year.
Learn a new language or skill. Some people love to learn and some people need to learn for their job. You may want to learn on your own with books or the internet or you may decide to take physical classes. No matter what your reasons for wanting to learn something new, you will be able to feel proud of yourself when you’ve reached that goal and have new skills to show for it.
How to Make and Stick to Them
You may feel like many other people who make New Year’s resolutions. Perhaps you’ve tried to make resolutions in the past and didn’t get anywhere with them. You may be tripping up on the word ‘resolution.’ Rather than call them ‘resolutions,’ which is defined as a mental state of being where you are determined to make something happen, why not set goals for yourself which are small, measureable and attainable?
Take time to think about the one thing you would like to change most about yourself. What is your ultimate goal? Do you want to lose 50 pounds in a year? Do you want to get out of debt? Or is your deepest desire to get your whole house organized? None of these things are going to happen overnight. They will take time and considerable effort but the results will be so worth it.
It really doesn’t make much sense to make a resolution or goal unless you know exactly what it is you want to accomplish. Write down your final goal – losing X number of pounds,
paying off a credit card, organizing your kitchen or whatever it might be – and the steps you’ll take to reach it. This will give you a road map to follow with smaller goals along the way to help you reach your ultimate goal or resolution.
Work on one thing at a time.
You may have a list of things you would like to change about yourself. Rather than try to make sweeping changes in many areas of your life, stick with only one thing at a time. Does it mean you have to wait until next year to work on changing the next thing on your list? Not necessarily, depending upon how you do with reaching one goal you may have time to work on another before the next December 31 rolls around. You’ve probably heard the saying ‘Jack of all trades, master of none.” If you try to chance too much at once it’s highly unlikely you’ll succeed at any of them.
Think small instead of big.
Since you’re not going try or to be able to accomplish your ultimate goal immediately, decide how best to break your ultimate goal into manageable parts. For instance, if your goal is to lose 50 pounds during the New Year and you know it’s healthy to lose no more than 2 pounds a week, you’ll have at a minimum 25 weeks to reach your goal. It is much easier to control your eating habits for a week at a time to see a two pound change than to worry about having to lose the whole 50 pounds and staying motivated to do so. Once you’ve made it through one week of being successful, reaching the next small goal won’t seem so impossible.
What about if your goal is to pay down a large chunk of debt or get totally out of debt next year? You may think that’s simply not possible and this might be true. However that doesn’t mean that reducing your debt is a bad idea or one that is unattainable. It may take
you longer than one year to accomplish but you can still do it! How would this happen? Again, break it down into smaller goals.
Suppose you have three credit cards. Which of the three has the highest interest rate? Choose that one and work toward getting that one card paid off. How do you do that? First, find out if your credit card company accepts partial payments or if there is a penalty for making multiple payments in a month. If they don’t have a problem accepting the payments, use some of these ideas which will allow you to pay more than your minimum payments.
1. Stop eating out as often. Take the money you would have spent for your meal out and apply that to your credit card payment. If you normally spend £8.00 per day for lunch that could be an additional £40 a month you could pay on your card. If your entire family eats out once a week and you spend £40 for the meal, you could pay an additional £160.00 towards your balance. Of course how much extra you pay on your balance will depend upon how serious you are to pay the card off.
2. Use coupons for items you normally buy. Saving one or two pounds a week doesn’t seem like much but it could be much more. Find websites which allow you to print coupons to use. Put the money you save from coupons aside and add that to your next payment.
3. Sell something you no longer use and put that money toward your credit card bill. If you have children’s clothes that are gently used and don’t fit any longer, you might want to find a second hand store to sell them for you. They’ll get a percentage of the sale but you won’t have to hold onto them until you can go to a car boot sale. Whatever you have that is still in good condition and useable you may be able to find someone who has a need and is willing to purchase it from you. There are places on the internet which allow you to sell used items but it will take time to get the items listed.
When you’ve paid off the first credit card, you can take the money that you were paying on it and apply that to the next credit card balance. Before you know it, you’ll be well on your way to meeting one of your New Year’s goals.
You can use the same basic idea for nearly any resolution you might have. Think about the big goal and how you can break it down into smaller goals which are more attainable. You may want to create a chart to help you keep track of where you want to be at any given time. This could be in weekly, bi-weekly, monthly increments or whatever works best for you.
Writing down your goals will also help them seem more real. They aren’t ‘pie-in-the-sky’ ideas that you’d like to reach. You know your destination and how to get there. You wouldn’t plan a trip across the country without having a map to follow and planned rest stops along the way. You can use the same idea in reaching your goal.
Seek accountability.
After you’ve determined your ultimate goal and written down how you plan to reach it, think about asking a family member or friend to hold you accountable. Tell them what it is you want to accomplish. Explain the steps you’ll take to reach your goal and ask if they have suggestions. They may be able to offer advice which will help you along your way.
Along with accountability you may want to ask a friend or family member to join you. Perhaps they’ve had similar goals or resolutions in the past and haven’t been successful. Having someone to work toward a goal will make it much more enjoyable and possibly easier. They’ll be able to encourage you when you don’t think you can go on and you can do the same for them.
Using the weight loss goal as an example, if your friend has weight they’d like to lose perhaps you can join a weight loss program together. Encourage your friend to stick to their diet and to get daily exercise. Before you know it, both of you could be well on your way to seeing true success instead of failure next year.
Seek support.
Even if your friends or family aren’t going to join you in reaching your goal, they can still provide moral support. If you’re trying to drop extra pounds they can help you choose healthy foods at the grocery store. They can ask you how you’re doing when you seem ready to give up and encourage you to keep going. Friends and family can also help you celebrate your successes.
In the case of trying to get debt under control your friend could bring a packed lunch to eat with you rather than expecting you to go out with them. If your friend doesn’t have the same financial concerns and is a whiz at balancing a cheque book, perhaps they can support you by teaching you how to balance your cheque book. Keeping track of what money you have in your accounts will enable you to pay your bills without having to pay late charges because your cheque book is messed up.
Reward yourself.
It helps to have periodic rewards for reaching goals along the way. This will give you something to look forward to and will help you push toward the ultimate goal. The rewards don’t have to cost a lot of money but they will need to be something you’ll look forward to getting.
Obviously, if weight loss is your goal, you don’t want to use food as a reward. You also wouldn’t want to go buy yourself an expensive outfit if you’re trying to get spending under control. Think about appropriate rewards and when you will reward yourself. Don’t wait too long to reward yourself or you may get frustrated and tempted to quit.
Give yourself a break.
No one is perfect and that includes you. Expect that you might slip up on occasion. Don’t get too frustrated with yourself if you don’t do everything perfectly. If you eat something you shouldn’t or spend money frivolously, don’t despair. You can chalk it up to experience and get back on track right away rather than giving up entirely. If you don’t get back to your planned path as quickly as possible it will make it even more difficult the next day.
Experts say it takes at least 21 days to create a new habit. It also takes about six months for your new habit to become ingrained in your personality. You’ve developed these bad habits, whatever they may be, over a number of years so it will take a while to unlearn them and replace them with new positive habits.
Choose to improve someone other than yourself.
There’s no hard and fast rule which states New Year’s resolutions can only be about improving yourself. Why not try something new this year? Instead of feeling bad about and trying to change yourself, think of ways you can improve others’ lives. Even if you can only change one person’s life for the better won’t that be a great accomplishment?
Think about the things and people that are important to you. Is there some way you can do something to help one of them out? If you don’t have money you can donate to a cause you believe in perhaps you can support the charity with your time by volunteering.
Depending upon the agency or charity you choose, you may be able to make a positive impact on more than one person. Wouldn’t that be great?
It’s not unusual for people to wish their lives were different. The prospects of a New Year may fill you with hope that things can be different. If you’ve set goals or made resolutions in the past and failed to keep them, don’t give up. By setting realistic goals and by making gradual changes to your life you could very well succeed.
Give yourself the best chance of success when it comes to New Year’s resolutions by understanding your reason for making them, choosing only one to work on at a time and writing down attainable goals. Work on sticking to that goal one day at a time and reward yourself when you’ve met smaller goals. Before long you’ll notice the change you desire has occurred and you’re a better person for making and sticking to this year’s New Year’s Resolution.