How to Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions

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The year 2013 rang in at midnight Monday signifying the fresh start of a new beginning. It has become custom that in order to celebrate the clean slate of a new year, resolutions should be made and kept throughout the entire year. However, according to a study by Richard Wiseman, 52% of the resolution-makers he studied were confident they would keep their goal while only 12% succeeded.

Think that is a surprising statistic? Sadly, it’s quite realistic. There are, however, ways to help insure that you are part of the resolution-makers that actually reaches their New Year goals. Here are some tips to help make sure you do so:

  • Write it down. Outline the goals you hope to achieve with pen and paper and keep the note in a place you will see quite frequently, like your bathroom mirror or in your daily planner. Having a constant physical reminder of the resolutions you plan to keep, will encourage you to continue working at them.
  • Be specific with what you want to achieve. Instead of making generic resolutions, such as “I want to save money” or “I want to lose weight,” be creative with more definitive goals. How much money do you want to save? How many pounds do you want to lose, and by when? By being specific, you realize your progress more easily.
  • Stay positive. If you go into the adventure with a negative mindset, it is likely that the outcome will become negative. In order to progress towards reaching your goal, it is important to keep encouraging yourself because you are your own worst critic and enemy.
  • Join a group or find a partner with similar goals. Surrounding yourself with others that are trying to reach the same goal you are helps encourage you to stay on the right track. It is easy to slip off of the bandwagon when you have no one to hold you accountable, but if there is someone keeping track of your progress you are much more likely to stay focused.
  • Make room in your schedule. Dedication is required in order to reach a goal. You must make time within your schedule to dedicate yourself to obtaining your ambitions. Mark it on your calendar or set reminders on your phone to keep you focused on your end goal.

It is one thing to set goals for yourself for the New Year, it is quite another thing to actually reach these goals. After you have implemented the above tactics into your goal-attaining strategy, you are likely to be successful. Good luck!