New Year Resolutions: How To Do Them Right
After Christmas indulgences, January heralds a new year and is often marked by the mantra “new year, new me”. So as we all set goals with the best of intentions for the year to come, let’s be mindful of the best ways to ensure we stick to them.
Recurring themes include being more proactive with fitness regimes and healthy eating, quitting habits (such as smoking or taking part in dry January), travelling more, improving finances, developing relationships through spending more quality time with family and friends, as well as learning new skills. Most importantly, being happy and living life to the fullest are what many desire.
However, once the initial glow of the New Year wears off, how do you keep yourself motivated to achieve these goals?
Mentally prepare for the change: Reflect on what you wanted to achieve this year and the successes you accomplished, before considering what didn’t necessarily go according to plan and why that was. If factors inside your control prevented you from achieving certain things this year, perhaps it’s time to consider making the effort to embrace those factors rather than use them as excuses.
Set a goal that motivates you: Let’s be real, if you’re already dreading the thought of your goal before you’ve even started, then you’re less likely to stick to it. Sometimes these may be bad habits we need to break or actions that will ultimately be better for us but take a while to come to fruition, so don’t only focus on the end goal but the journey that will take you there. If you need to give yourself little rewards along the way to acknowledge your achievements, then go for it!
Be realistic: Don’t set too many goals – we only have so much time, attention and motivation, so don’t spread yourself too thin. Focus on a top 3 – 5 ambitions for the following year and prioritise by which you’d most like to fulfill and which may take the most time. The bottom line is that it’s better to attempt one goal well, than multiple resolutions poorly.
Be specific: Use the SMART technique when setting resolutions to make them more effective, which means being specific about what you want, quantifying measurable goals, making sure it is challenging yet attainable, relevant to your priorities, and that each has a defined timescale.
Divide a larger goal into smaller ones: In the glow of a new year, we may be overeager in setting complicated resolutions with the thought of “well I have a year to achieve it”. Very true, so to achieve your larger ambitions, break it down into multiple sub-tasks to complete along the way. By setting shorter timescales you’ll feel a bigger reward as you can see the larger goal becoming reality throughout the year.
Keep track of your goals: Having something to continuously refer to through the year, as well as finally physically ticking achievements off, leads to a greater sense of satisfaction at its completion. This can be as simple as post-it notes on a wall, writing in a journal, or by using task management apps such as Google Calendar and Trello.
Regularly review your resolutions: Set daily reminders to keep making progress towards your plans, with weekly, fortnightly or monthly reviews to check on progress and reassess focus to continue working towards short and long-term goals.
Ask for support: Family and friends can offer support when needed and keep you on track with your accomplishments.
Remember that setbacks can happen and you may take a different route from your original plans, but so long as you remind yourself of your resolutions, your motivations and your progress so far, then eventually you’ll achieve them.
We hope your 2020 is full of ambitions and that you accomplish all that you wish to.
From everyone at City Girl Network, we wish you a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Written by Hannah Bird