How To Actually Stick To Your Resolutions This Year

So, you’ve officially admitted defeat with your New Year’s resolutions for 2015; you failed at half of them and you can’t even remember what the other ones were. But fear not because 2016 is just around the corner which means you can start making a whole new list of ‘New year, new me’ promises, and this year you’re going to make sure you stick to them. Here’s how…

1. Be realistic

Making a New Year’s resolution to give up chocolate entirely is just not going to happen. Sure, it might be achievable for the first few weeks but as soon as your time of the month comes along or you have a bad day at the office, it’s ‘buh-bye’ chocolate-free diet and ‘hello’ chocolate-only diet.

In fact, research has proven that setting, smaller, more realistic goals is the key to success, so whatever it is you want to achieve, break it down into more manageable chunks (think monthly or even weekly targets) and you’re more likely to stay on track.

2. Set no more than three resolutions

Sure, there are a tonne of things you want to achieve in the New Year, but sometimes it’s difficult enough to remember to brush your hair in the morning, never mind the 20 resolutions you swore you’d stick to.

Choose three things that you really want to accomplish this year, or three key areas of your life that really need a makeover and focus on those. By streamlining your choices you’ll be able to focus on them more intensely, and in turn keep them the whole year through.

3. Stick up a poster of them on your wall

Sometimes it’s not willpower that’s the problem, it’s remembering that you’ve set resolutions in the first place, so to keep your goals at the forefront of your mind, jot them down on a piece of paper and stick them somewhere you’ll see them on the regular.

Whether it’s your kitchen, bedroom or office, keeping a poster or post-it note in your line of vision will remind you what you’re aiming for. Better yet, include a list of all the deadly reasons you want to achieve that goal and read over it regularly. Sure how could you fail?

4. Set a resolution with a friend

The power of peer pressure, eh? Decide right now that you and one of your besties will achieve a goal together. If someone close to you is doing the same thing as you, you’ll be more motivated to stick to it and your competitive edge might kick in if you feel that your mate’s doing better than you.

5. Track it

Tracking your progress does two things. First of all, if  you’ve let your goal slide it helps you to pinpoint that and nip any bad behaviours in the bud. Second, if you’re doing well, it serves as an extra boost of motivation to keep going. Pull up your iCal or diary now, and mark a date each month where you’ll keep an eye on your progress. Jotting down how far you’ve come, and how far you still need to go, may just be the thing to ensure you stick at that resolution the whole year through.

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