A New Year brings so much excitement, motivation, and an explosion of ambition. So many of us set so many ambitious New Year’s resolutions with great intentions for the next era of our lives. It’s quite lovely how this time of year sparks so much desire to make strides towards our best lives. However, the issue is often sticking to those New Year’s resolutions for more than a few days or weeks. If said New Year’s resolutions started at all. Let’s be honest. Because, despite our good intentions, far too many of us don’t set ourselves up for long-term success with our New Year’s resolutions.
With that in mind, I’d like to say that it’s not because we can’t be successful in sticking to our New Year’s resolutions. Honestly, it has nothing to do with our ability to change our lives for the better. And failing to stick to our New Year’s resolution is not a testament to our willpower or ambition. But rather, it’s more of a matter of proper planning for our New Year’s resolutions. Because honestly, many of us hardly plan our New Year’s resolutions beyond the statement of what we intend to change in our lives. Or maybe we don’t even deeply consider why we’re actually making that resolution in the first place.
So, let’s take the time to plan those New Year’s resolutions that are most important to us. Let’s set ourselves up to successfully stick to those life-changing New Year’s resolutions this year. And eventually, have those resolutions become our lifestyle and our daily reality. Rather than another New Year’s resolution that fizzled out before February.
Have A Strong “Why” Behind Your New Year’s Resolutions
Honestly, before you even commit to planning a New Year’s resolution, it’s important to understand why you’re making that resolution in the first place. Especially as your “why” will be the key to actually sticking to your New Year’s resolutions. So, before you even begin working out the specifics, ask yourself why you want to make this goal in the first place. Are you setting this New Year’s resolution to enrich your life in some way? Perhaps, committing to move your body more often to boost your energy, strengthen your immune system, and feel stronger. Or starting that business to support your freedom. Or are you setting a resolution just for the sake of having a New Year’s resolution?
And don’t even get me started on setting a New Year’s resolution that’s intended to satisfy other people. My lovely, drop those resolutions that aren’t truly in alignment with you before they even flow onto your journal page.
But seriously, consider the “why” behind your New Year’s resolutions first. And for the ones with a strong and healthy why, write about your “why” in your journal. Heck, write your why on a sticky note to keep in your space where you’ll see it every day when you need a reminder. Put it on your vision board. And keep it in mind as you begin working towards your New Year’s resolutions. As well as your reason to keep sticking to your New Year’s resolutions when your motivation is running thin.
Be Specific With Your New Year’s Resolutions
We’re all guilty of allowing a well-intended statement to be our entire New Year’s resolution, without being specific about it. I’m talking, simply stating that we’re going to “move our bodies more”, “read more”, or “create more”. Or maybe statements like “wake up earlier” or “reduce our screentime”. Certainly, these statements are a great starting point. But we also have to be specific about our intentions, so that they’re not left to be reinterpreted later on. After all, if your goal is to wake up earlier, and you usually wake up at 10:00 AM, 9:59 AM is technically earlier. And a single jumping jack counts as “moving your body more” if you’re usually sedentary.
You get the idea. And certainly, you know deep down that your intentions are much more ambitious. But it’s easy to allow that arbitrary statement become an excuse on those less motivating days. While also knowing you’re letting yourself down, which eventually often leads to quitting altogether. So get specific about your goals for the New Year, my lovely. And make them clear and measurable. That way, you know when you’ve been successful in them.
And so you’re not guessing whether you did enough for the day. Or if you even made progress at all. And so that you can’t cut corners, while trying to talk yourself into believing you hit the mark. Or talking yourself into believing you haven’t hit the mark, when you far exceeded it. Because sometimes we’re also too hard on ourselves when there’s no clear goal post, which also makes sticking to our New Year’s resolutions tricky.
Plan Those Resolutions Out — In A Way That’s Realistic For You
Once you know what exactly it is you’re working towards in the New Year, you’ll need to figure out how exactly you’re going to fit it into your life. And make that “how” realistic and workable for you. After all, every goal needs a viable plan in order to stick with it or even start on it. Certainly, it’s lovely to tell yourself you’re going to start working out 5 times a week for 30 minutes a day. But when exactly will you fit your workout into your routine? Without cramming it in at the last minute at 8:00 PM. Or declaring you’ll read two chapters of a book a day, without staying up until midnight to do so. Nor do you want to burn yourself out on your business because you’re working for 14 hours a day.
So, take a moment to sit down and plan out exactly how your goals work into your daily routine. Do you intend to work out in the morning, around lunchtime, or after work? How do you intend to prepare for your workout? Is reading going to be a part of your morning or evening routine, or a midday treat? What hours do you intend to work on building your business? What does a business day look like for you? Plan it all out, my lovely. And plan it out in a way that works for you. Not for someone with a similar goal, but a different life situation with different needs. Or even different interests.
After all, some of us are planning our workout routine around a 9:00 AM home yoga session. Not a 6:00 AM trip to the gym. And obviously, the daily routine of a corporate baddie is going to look different from the routine of a content creator.
Ease In To Them — Rather Than Trying To Make Drastic Lifestyle Changes Overnight
Let’s be honest, far too many of us try to go from 0 to 100 on our New Year’s resolutions on January 1st. And sure, in the first few days of a New Year, it almost feels natural to go all in. Despite having quite literally gone from 0 to 100 within a couple of days. It’s easy to ride that wave of motivational momentum after the clock strikes midnight on January 1st. Heck, that wave can even carry you a few weeks into the New Year. Until the novelty of the New Year wears off. Or when it’s time to go back to work. Or when motivation isn’t as easy to come by.
Then all of a sudden, you realize that you’ve thrown yourself into a completely new life. Without any time to adjust. And it catches up to you, that suddenly, those 7:00 AM wake-ups are drastically different from your previous 10:00 AM wake-ups. Or your muscles ache from going from almost no daily movement to exercising for 30 minutes, 5 days a week. Or, perhaps, you’re suddenly shaping yourself into a new version of yourself, without giving your nervous system any time to catch up. And this is where sticking to your New Year’s resolutions becomes tricky.
Because while you’re doing something great for yourself, your subconscious is freaking out at the unfamiliar life you’re in. And what does our nervous system do when something feels unfamiliar? It finds any way to drag us back into familiarity. So let’s allow ourselves to slowly ease into our resolutions and incorporate gradual adjustments into our plans. That way, our subconscious, as well as our bodies, have time to ease into our new routine. That way, it gradually begins to feel natural. And not like a shock to the system.
Be Firm With Yourself, But Also Give Yourself Some Grace
My lovely, it goes without saying that you’re only human, and you’re not going to be perfect in sticking to your New Year’s resolutions every day. Sometimes, life doesn’t allow us to have a productive day or to stick perfectly to our routines. We may legitimately not feel well on some days, and have to skip our workout and sleep in more than we’d like to. Sometimes, life might pull us in another direction, where we won’t have time for our full daily routine. Heck, sometimes, our minds and bodies just want us to give ourselves some space. And you know what? That’s more than okay, and you’ve got to give yourself some grace for the off days.
Seriously, one off day, or even an off week, does not equate to failure. And honestly, you’ll also need to give yourself time to adjust and work the bugs out of your new daily routines in the beginning, as it is. Whether it’s the first day of your new life, or you’ve been at this for years, you’ve got to be kind to yourself when life happens. Even when you totally took a day off because you just didn’t want to go to the gym, and opted to play cozy games all day instead. Seriously, be gracious and forgive yourself for those days.
That said, remember to also be firm with yourself when you fall off the wagon. Don’t allow a bad day to cause you to slip back into patterns that dull your sparkle. Or to go back to the old life that you’ve freed yourself from to start this year off strong. Kindly, but firmly, acknowledge what happened and why it happened. Then, pick yourself up and keep going from where you left off, my lovely.
Track Your Progress With Your New Year’s Resolutions
The great thing about being specific about the habits that you wish to create and having measurable goals is that they’re highly trackable. That said, tracking your new habits and monitoring your progress is exactly what helps hold you accountable to sticking to your New Year’s resolutions. While also giving you something concrete to see how far you’ve come from the day you started on your goals. That way, you can see your progress and how much you’ve done, and not feel like you’re still at stage one. Especially when progress is more gradual.
Use habit trackers to track the days you adhere to the habits that you’re wishing to build. Lay out each step in reaching your goal, and put a checkmark next to each step you complete. Set milestones to reach along the way, and celebrate your progress at each milestone. Make it a part of your daily or weekly planning routine to check in with your goals and fill in your habit trackers.
Tracking your progress also allows you to see where you struggle and allows you to make adjustments to your goals as needed. Maybe you’ll notice that you struggle the most with getting your movement on Mondays. Or that you struggle to find the motivation to read or create at certain points in your menstrual cycle. You may even find that some parts of your business aren’t as motivating for you to work on, and you may be slower at completing them. Or some tasks simply take a bit more time and energy, so your timeline needs to be adjusted a little bit.
And, again, seeing your progress allows you to see how far you’ve come. Giving you something to celebrate every time you check a box or reach a milestone.
Let Others Inspire And Support Your Goals
Can we all stop viewing other people as our competition in the coming year? It goes without saying that we can’t compare our day one to someone else’s year ten. But we can be motivated by the life that they’ve built. So why not allow ourselves to be inspired by what they’ve built, and allow ourselves to walk along the trail they’ve blazed for us? After all, their success is just proof of what’s possible. That said, growth is not a competition, and we’re not even in competition with those who are starting around the same time that we are. And we can’t compare our growth and success to anyone but the person we were yesterday. Because we’re all different.
So, rather than trying to compete with anyone else, why not build and grow alongside them? Seriously, find a community of like-minded people who want to hold each other accountable to their growth path. Connect with people who want to grow, succeed, and also want to see other people blossom. Honestly, this is also how meaningful and lasting connections and friendships are made. And it makes the process so much more enjoyable, as someone is there to hype you up. While you also hype them up, as they grow alongside you.
Perhaps you can find these connections in your hometown by attending events for like-minded people. Or maybe your current circle will even want to hop on board when they see your enthusiasm. But honestly? You also can’t knock those niche online communities that are filled with lovely people who share your same ambitions. Especially as these communities connect you with amazing people at every stage in their growth or success journey.
Let Yourself Start Early — Or Even Late
I know that it goes without saying, but in case you need a permission slip, you absolutely can start your New Year’s resolutions early. As a matter of fact, you should start early. You don’t have to wait until January 1st to start taking steps towards your best life. Seriously, start in October or December. Heck, start in the middle of July. Starting early on your New Year’s resolutions is actually a great way to start preparing for the New Year before the ball begins to drop. And honestly, it takes so much pressure off of your New Year’s resolutions, so sticking to them doesn’t feel as high-stakes. So go ahead and start on December 29th, or as soon as you’re feeling that spark.
And on the contrary, you can also start your New Year’s resolutions late. So what if not everything fell into place for you to begin on January 1st? You can absolutely start in the middle of January, or even in February or March. Or at whatever point in the year. January 1st is only one of 365 opportunities in the year. 366 if it’s a leap year. So make the most of it, my lovely. You’ll thank yourself come December 31st at the end of the year. Or even sooner, when you watch your manifestations come into fruition.
Whether you start early or late, you’re ahead of the curve, my lovely. Many people wouldn’t even think to start working towards their goals for the next year during the holiday season. And come mid-January, many people have already given up, as you’re just getting started. And you know what? New Year’s resolutions are just things you’re planning to work towards in the next 365 days. There’s no reason the official start date has to be January 1st.
Conclusion
Hype yourself up for the new life you’re stepping into in the New Year, my lovely. And let yourself ride the wave of motivation that comes along with a New Year. But remember to also be strategic and have a plan so that you can actually stick to your New Year’s resolutions. Be soft and gentle with yourself, and be realistic, while also challenging yourself to grow outside of your comfort zone. Let this be the year that you’ll grow and succeed beyond your wildest dreams. Let this be the year you truly start living your best life and become your best self. Whether you start taking those steps on January 1st or in the middle of November. Or even in the middle of April.
What are some of your New Year’s resolutions for the coming year? How do you intend to stick to them in the next 365 days? Have you ever been successful in making a New Year’s resolution into a lasting lifestyle change? Or into an entire successful empire? I’d love to read your stories! And you never know who they might motivate.
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