How to Make Resolutions That Will Stick In 2018

It’s that time again when the curtains fall, and a new chance to do better comes wrapped up as a new year. A time when you look back on the past year and identify areas that you want to improve on. A time when we feel that a new year will be a motivation to finally achieve the resolutions that have been prominent on our list every other year. A time when it’s ideal to adopt new habits and make new goals.

The majority of us like to make resolutions early in the year. If you’re like me and most of us – being in better shape, healthy eating, and exercise may feature on your list. Or maybe your goals are to lose weight, save more money, be happy, and advance your career. Sadly, only 8% of people are successful in achieving their resolutions.¹If you wish to be in this top crop of people, use these techniques to make resolutions that stick.

One resolution at a time

We possess a limited will power.¹ Hence, it is overwhelming to make multiple resolutions work at the same time.²You will fail if you try to change everything at once. If you want to achieve your goal and stay on track, stick to one thing, make it happen, and then move on to the next.³

Not to mention, you will need commitment and action. Pick just one area to begin with then give yourself a month to make the habit stick.²

Practice the habit every day without fail, paying attention to the little steps of action that will propel you to achieve your bigger goal. It would be impossible to lose weight if you practice the foundations like eating healthy and starting an exercise regimen.¹

Start small

Start from somewhere.

You don’t climb an entire mountain in a day. Losing weight is too broad a resolution. Equally, you can’t lose all the weight in a month. Set a small and attainable goal for a start. Be specific about how many pounds you want to lose and at what time. Then, start with a manageable figure and work upward.³

Once you can follow through and it becomes a habit, then you can set more significant target. Likewise, you can’t start by going to the gym for two hours every day. It is wise to start with 30 minutes every other day, and then, improve on that daily.¹

Set smart goals

You must set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound targets. If you want to lose weight, there are many things that are involved. What exactly does it mean to you to lose weight? Is it weighing fewer pounds or fitting into a particular dress size?

Figure out what exactly you want to do. Say you want to lose ten pounds in a months’ time. Then, find steps that can drive you to achieve that. Plan your meals in advance, pay for a gym membership, and go three times a week.

Have a strong why

Why are you making those resolutions? Why do you want that change? Having a strong why makes it easy to change your habit for the better. “Why” gives you the motivation to stick to your goals even in the face of adversity and challenges. A strong why will keep you going even when you want to quit.

You don’t just need any motivation, but a quality motivation that instigates change within you and propels you to success and greatness. Resolve to change a lousy habit, because you want to improve the quality of your life. Don‘t set resolutions just because your friends are setting resolutions. Don’t set resolutions that people think you should set. Be honest with yourself, and choose what you feel you want to change. That way the motivation will come from within.

Make a monetary incentive

Set a monetary reward for when you achieve your goal. Decide on the value of money you will pay if you don’t go to the gym. You could give the money to a friend, or donate to a charity, or send to a friend who has achieved his/her goal.

The reward, no matter how little, will encourage you to go through with it: a movie, ice cream, or whatever makes you happy.²Of course, it is easy to be hard on yourself when you don’t achieve your goal than to celebrate when you succeed. Make effort to celebrate when you succeed and pay yourself the reward.³ Apply this tactic to any resolution and see it work.

Expect obstacles and accept failure

Making a habit change is not easy; otherwise, we’d all be who we want to be in a jiffy.

In fact, you may feel like giving up a few days or weeks into the change. Chances are you’ll get distracted. Therefore, you need to on the lookout. List the potential challenges that may hinder you from following through with your plan. Then, come up with solutions to those obstacles.

If you find it difficult to get out of bed and you keep hitting the snooze button, keep it on the other side of the room, so you’re forced to wake up and turn it off. Don’t forget to remove all triggers, like junk foods in your pantry, and replace them with healthier foods, like fruits and vegetables.³

In any event that you lose track, don’t give up altogether. Don’t beat yourself up. You don’t just pack up and go. Instead, tell yourself it’s just a bad day at the office, and tomorrow you’ll do better. Dust yourself off and analyze the triggers that caused the setback and learn from them. If you’re going out with friends is the trigger for drinking alcohol, minimize that interaction.²

Have an accountability partner

Share your resolutions with your family and friends. Likewise, you can share on social media to make yourself accountable to your goal.³Additionally, you can join a group of people who have the same goal as yours for accountability and support. When you share your success and struggle with others, the journey to your dreams seems more accessible and less daunting. You remain inspired, dedicated, and committed, because it’s no longer just about you, but others would be disappointed if you don’t achieve your goal.¹

Get out of your comfort zone, and get support from other people with the similar goals.

Track your progress

Keeping a log is vital to making your resolutions stick. Once you have your specific goal and action plan, track your daily progress.² When you monitor your performance, it becomes more likely that you’ll achieve your goals. Not to mention, the feedback you get encourages you to keep going.

If you set up a financial goal to save a certain amount every day, every time you see the bank balance grow is a tremendous motivating factor. The feeling of the ticking off your list will prompt you to set even bigger goals.¹

Summarily, whatever you want, you have all it takes to achieve it. All you need to decide what you want, take action, and don’t stop until you follow through with it.

What do you want to achieve in 2018? Is it financial success? Is it weight loss?

Share with us in the comments!

Happy New Year from Mother Earth Products.