Sticking to Your New Year’s Resolutions

from Keystone Rehabilitation Systems Emmaus Offers Effective Strategies

Is your commitment to your New Year’s resolutions flagging? Is your resolve weakening? Are you ignoring or shelving your resolutions for now? Or have you simply given them up? Don’t worry, you are not alone. As January winds to an end, so do most New Year’s resolutions. It is easier to make resolutions than to keep them. Studies show that most people who make New Year’s resolutions fail to keep them despite being positive or confident of success at the beginning. The inevitable return to busy routines from the holiday season is accompanied by a return to old and familiar habits and behaviors.

A lot of research has focused on how to effectively achieve goals. Dr. Gail Mathews elicited 3 key elements to successful goal setting- accountability, commitment and writing goals. Keep these in mind as you consider the following strategies to help you keep your New Year’s resolution.

Begin with analyzing your goals and the resources you have available to accomplish them. Thinking things through and being better prepared gives you a better chance of success. Create what psychologists call a “mental contrast”- a resolution with a positive outlook is good but it needs to be balanced by an awareness of everything that can prevent it from happening.

Choose one goal. Multiple competing goals are less effective.  Choose a goal that will have the greatest impact for you or, one that is most likely to succeed.

Make your goal realistic and attainable. Wanting to lose 5 pounds a week over 4 months is not normally sustainable and will pave the way for frustration and failure.

Write down your goal. Display it where you are likely to review it and reconnect on an ongoing basis. Writing and tracking your progress is a confidence-builder and will likely remain motivational long after the adrenalin rush of the New Year has subsided.

Keep it specific and measurable. Do not set a vague goal.  For example, don’t just say you want to exercise regularly, instead, resolve to exercise say, 20 minutes daily.

 Focus on the process. Breaking a goal into smaller steps takes it from the long term and brings into a more achievable short-term time frame. Make action statements with ‘if-then-or’ commitments. For example, say “ If it is raining outdoors then I will do stepping aerobics indoors or exercise with weights indoors”.

Publicize your goals and it becomes harder to ignore. Share your goals with a friend or a support forum. Have them help you track your progress on a weekly basis. This widens your accountability and commitment.

Reward yourself as you make strides towards achievement. Some acknowledgement along the way is necessary to keep you motivated and a final ‘big’ reward is what makes it worth all the effort.

Finally, cut yourself some slack on the occasional slip-ups.  Your resolution is not doomed to failure with a few setbacks. Simply pick yourself up the next day and continue from where you left off.

So there, you have it. No matter what you started with as a New Year’s resolution, renew your commitment and enhance your success with these strategies.