New Year resolutions where all the craze 2 weeks ago, but research tells us that January 12th is the day that most people ditch their resolutions. If you are anything like me, the first 2 weeks of January have been nothing short of manic. Kids sickness, attempts at getting everyone onto a schedule again, dragging kids out of bed at 6am, dragging myself out of bed, desperately trying to fit in some exercise and meal planning in around my full-time job, add to that, sick dog, broken car and husband traveling and it’s a wonder I’m even alive by January 12th let alone following a New Year’s Resolution.
All or Nothing
If I had made any New Year Resolutions at this stage I would be completely forgiving myself for binning them. The problem I have with New Year Resolutions is that they tend to be complete overhauls, unrealistic for normal life. All or nothing, 30 day detox, 10 day juice cleanse etc, there is nothing real life about them. The all or nothing approach is much more likely to end in ‘nothing’ rather than ‘all’
If you have fallen off the wagon at this stage I hope you now realise that you are in good company and there is no need to beat yourself up about it.
Resolutions that Stick
If you want to make a New Year Resolution that sticks or a new day, new week or new months resolution, (you are not limited to January 1st for this), then make sure it is realistic, and it can work with your normal life. Here are my top 5 tips to making resolutions that stick.
1. Start small, choose one thing to change, make sure it is realistic in the context of life and practice it. When deciding on this change test it on yourself if you think that there is less than an 8/10 chance you will succeed then it’s too big, scale it back a bit.
2. Think about why you want to make a change. Not just on a superficial level, dig really deep. If you are not clear on this, then it will be hard to stick to it when the going gets tough or when faced with chocolate cake.
3. Ask for help, people are far more likely to succeed if they have support. This could be anyone, husband, kids, friend, colleague, coach, PT, group exercise.
4. Resolutions are often focused on a negative, cut out bread, stop eating sweets. You are far more likely to meet success if where possible you can reframe or make your resolutions positive, eat more vegetables or eat dinner with the family.
5. Finally, plan a reward. You should celebrate every success along the way. So if your goal was to take the stairs every day and you have succeeded within a given time frame then reward yourself. You could treat yourself to a manicure, or a new notebook. Whatever floats your boat.
So if the New Year Resolution that you made on January 1st has long been forgotten then why not have a go of setting yourself up for success now.