We are a few days into 2023. How is 2023 treating you so far? Are you having a good time? Maybe you started this year with a few new resolutions. Maybe you are now at this point where you struggling and you want to give up. That is pretty normal. At first, you are feeling excited to start something new but one or two weeks later, that exciting feeling is gone. This is the time when a lot of people start giving up. But you probably don’t want to give up at all. That is why you are reading this post. Don’t worry, I will give you a few tips on how to keep your New Year’s resolutions.
How to keep your New Year’s resolutions
- Know the reason you want to keep this New Year’s resolution. Do you really want this or is everyone else telling you to do this? Or maybe it is trendy? It is easier to keep your resolutions if you have a good reason to change yourself or your life. If your resolution was to find a new job, ask yourself why? Maybe this job is not as fulfilling as you thought it was going to be. That should be enough motivation to keep going. The idea you will be stuck in this job forever if you would give up should be enough reason.
- Make your New Year’s resolutions sound more positive. Stop using words like: not, never, give up etc. Use more positive words. Maybe you want to stop your social media addiction. Giving up your social media sounds terrible, but if you formulate it differently it will be easier for you. Instead of saying ‘stop spending so much time on social media’, you could say ‘I want to read more and I plan my social media moments’
- Remind yourself. Put little reminders everywhere. It takes a while before your resolutions like eating healthy and exercising become second nature to you. Put little sticky notes on your mirror, change your phone background and put reminders in your phone too. The beginning is always the hardest, so make sure you remind yourself daily. Or maybe you can find someone who wants to help you, maybe your partner if you have one.
- Be specific with your New Year’s resolutions. Maybe your resolution was to lose some weight, but that is not very specific. Your ego (that voice in your head) might think 1kg/pound is already enough. So make sure you’re specific. Although, with losing weight it is easier to change your lifestyle instead of a diet that lasts for a few weeks/months. If you want to earn more money, be specific. If you want to find a new job, be specific.
- Visualise your goals. Athletes always use visualisation before their big moments. They have done some research and it turns out that if you practise something in your mind every single day, your body will not know the difference between reality and something you made up. So first of all, it makes it easier to accomplish your goal. Secondly, it can really give you more motivation to keep going. If you visualise your new life, it can feel exciting.
- Make a plan. Most of us live on autopilot, which means we don’t have to think about the things we do every single day. But if you decide to change your life (in one or more areas), you might want to make a schedule/plan and stick to it. Write down when you are going to work on your resolutions etc. Make sure, you don’t have the time to go back to your old habits. Keep doing this until your new lifestyle feels natural and you can do it without thinking about it.
- Don’t be too hard on yourself. If you have a bad day, allow those feelings. Take the time, but try to keep going unless it is really not possible. Sometimes keeping going will make you feel better. Especially when your goal is to exercise more, exercising releases feel-good hormones. And walking counts as exercising too. You don’t always have to go out for a 5km (or miles) run.
Photo by Oksana Taran on Unsplash