How to Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions

New Year’s resolutions seem like such a great idea when you make them. But as the year progresses, you may leave all your well-intentioned goals scattered by the wayside. With the right strategies, your year doesn’t have to be filled with unfulfilled resolutions. These simple tips can help turn 2020 into a year full of New Year’s resolution successes.

Set Realistic Goals

Setting ambitious New Year’s resolutions certainly has its appeal. After all, who doesn’t want to become a millionaire, have the perfect body, or transform their home into an oasis of comfort and luxury? But setting overly ambitious goals could be crippling since they are so hard to achieve. Instead, try to set realistic goals you know you can achieve if you try hard enough. For instance, instead of setting a goal to become a millionaire, consider setting smaller, more realistic goals to improve your finances in the long run, like reducing unnecessary expenses or investing your money.

Set Specific Goals

Vague goals are hard to achieve. If you don’t know what you’re aiming at, how can you possibly hit your target? Take a moment to make your resolution as specific as possible. For example, getting fit is an admirable goal, but it is also vague. You can make it more specific (and therefore achievable) by focusing on maintaining a workout schedule or one thing you hope to use your newfound fitness for. For instance, you might set the goal of working out three times a week or make it your goal to be fit enough to hike a challenging trail in your area.

Break Large Goals Into Smaller Chunks

Big goals usually take longer to achieve, so maintaining your focus for the long haul can be tricky. One way to stay on track is to break large goals into smaller, more manageable chunks. For example, if your resolution is to transform your house, you might breakdown the goal room by room, setting timelines for each step in the process.

Tell Others Your Goals

When you make a resolution, you probably feel accountable to yourself. However, once you tell others your New Year’s resolution, you may also feel accountable to them. While it might be easy to quit if you’re the only one who knows your resolution, it may be harder if you’ve already told everyone about it. Social media makes it easy to cast a wide net, but if you want to keep your circle smaller or your resolutions more private, try telling just your significant other or your best friend as a start!

Find Support

You don’t need to go it alone! Finding support on your road to fulfilling your New Year’s resolution can help you maintain focus, fight through setbacks, and achieve the success you’re looking for. Plus, having friends around can make the entire process more fun. You might check with friends and family to find people in your life with similar goals. Otherwise, you could join Facebook groups or local organizations to meet new friends to support you.

Reward Yourself

Hey, achieving your goals is hard work! You deserve a little recognition for your achievements, even if you need to give it to yourself. Rewarding yourself at major milestones towards your resolution can feel satisfying and give you the boost you need to press onward.

Prepare for Failures

No one is perfect, so it is only natural that people will suffer failures and setbacks. If you haven’t prepared yourself, though, you may be sorely tempted to abandon your New Year’s resolution altogether. Plan how you will handle setbacks now, and they may not seem like dealbreakers if you face them down the road.

What New Year’s resolutions did you make for 2020? How do you plan to keep them? Share your goals and strategies in the comments section below!