New Year’s resolutions are notoriously for being two things: overly ambitious and completely forgotten by February.
Yet, the practice of setting a goal or making a change alongside the fresh start of a new year is still worthwhile. The secret lies in ensuring your resolutions are setting you up for success — instead of failure.
Here are our five best tips for setting achievable New Year’s resolutions.
Break it down
If your goal is a lofty one, you’re more likely to give up when you don’t see instant results. That doesn’t mean you can’t achieve a lot in a year — you just might need to adjust your expectations each month. For instance, if your resolution is to run a marathon in 2020, but you’ve currently never finished a 5k, you may need to break your goal down into smaller achievements. Set a resolution to develop a running routine one month, increase your mileage the next month, then compete in a shorter distance after that. By focusing on smaller goals along the way, you’ll get several “wins” under your belt on the way to your ultimate goal.
Consider addition over subtraction
All too often, people make resolutions for habits they want to stop. While there are plenty of bad habits worth quitting, giving something up is far more challenging than adding something healthy and positive into your life. For example, rather than setting a resolution to eat less sugar in 2020, consider resolving instead to eat more vegetables in 2020. Not only are vegetables great for you nutritionally, but filling up on more healthy foods will naturally help you eat less of the foods that might not make you feel as good.
Find a buddy
Accountability is essential for reaching a goal. Whether you’re striving to meet a big fitness goal or finish a longstanding project, having someone who knows your goal and can check in on you from time to time to see how you’re doing is a great way to stay on track.
Invest in yourself
Having the right tools and gear to meet your goals helps to both prepare you and boost your confidence. Plus, you’ll be more likely to follow through if you’ve spent money to support your 2020 plans.
Give yourself permission to fail…and try again
If February rolls around and you’ve already fallen out of your new fitness routine or plans to make lunch everyday instead of buy, don’t beat yourself up. Remember that you set a New Year’s resolution — and a year is a long time. Even if you haven’t executed your plans perfectly right away, you can still make progress toward improvement.
What new goals and resolutions are you setting for 2020?
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