Happy New Years Eve to you all! I'm sure that you've already been thinking about making some new years resolutions, well this post is going to cover some of the most common new years resolutions and how you can avoid breaking your resolutions. In the weeks that follow I'll be doing a series of posts relating to specific goals taken from the top 10 most common resolutions. I hope you enjoy this series and find it useful! In 2012 Time declared the following 10 resolutions as the ones most commonly broken:
Lose Weight and Get Fit
Quit Smoking
Learn Something New
Eat Healthier and Diet
Get Out of Debt and Save Money
Spend More Time with Family
Travel to New Places
Be Less Stressed
Volunteer
Drink Less
I bet you see some of your own resolutions on here as well, don't you? I think this list is familiar to everyone because these aren't only the most commonly broken resolutions, they are also the most commonly made. So don't feel bad about making a resolution that most people fail to achieve because there are ways to ensure you go at least some way to achieving your goals.
Simplify and specify
You will notice that most people say they want to 'lose weight' or 'save money'. Although these seem like very simple statements they are horrendously complicated and non-specific. Instead of saying 'lose weight' you need to split your goal up into more manageable, measurable and achievable tasks.
With the losing weight example, you should instead say "I'm going to lose a stone by the end of the year by exercising for 30 minutes a day using... technique and only eat junk foods once a week". Both of these things are measurable, specific and more simplified. It might also help to add a time element to your resolution if you are working towards a mid-year goal, a wedding for example.
Write it down
It might help to write down your goals that way you won't forget their specificity and to help you keep track of how you are doing. You can buy little note books from Poundland if you like to physically write things down or you can use a note taking app on your phone/tablet so you have it to hand at all times. You could also start a blog if you want to turn your resolutions into a hobby (two birds with one stone if your resolution is to start blogging!).
Don't take on too much
There is no point in making loads of resolutions because you won't be able to tackle everything at once. Start by having a think about which goals will take the most time to achieve. Choosing to exercise for 30 minutes each day in order to lose weight will take a longer time to achieve so you could start with attempting that first. Once you've got used to changing your habits you could start to take on another resolution.
Preparation
This is sort of related to to the above point. Don't go into something if you are not prepared. Quitting smoking but not having the right support in place will ultimately lead to you starting again. You can't start going on a daily jog if you don't have a sports bra that fits you or comfortable running shoes. It is better to put something off until you are completely prepared than to start, fail and then feel badly about yourself. Just make sure that you don't keep putting something off otherwise you will never achieve it.
Reviewing
This relates to the point about writing stuff down. You need to check in every now and again to see what you have achieved. Not only will this keep you motivated but it will also give you an indication of how close you are to achieving your goal. I'd suggest reviewing your goals every month. You might want to extend or decrease a deadline or completely change your goal depending on how well you are doing. You have to remain interested to achieve long term goals.
In my future blog posts I'll be covering the following resolutions and I'll be putting up the links here once I've post:
1. Exercise more
2. Eat healthier (we will cover alcohol too)
3. Give more to charity
4. Save money
5. Get a new job
6. Manage stress better
7. Be more productive
8. Spend More Time with Family
9. Learn something new
10. Quit smoking
Simplify and specify
You will notice that most people say they want to 'lose weight' or 'save money'. Although these seem like very simple statements they are horrendously complicated and non-specific. Instead of saying 'lose weight' you need to split your goal up into more manageable, measurable and achievable tasks.
With the losing weight example, you should instead say "I'm going to lose a stone by the end of the year by exercising for 30 minutes a day using... technique and only eat junk foods once a week". Both of these things are measurable, specific and more simplified. It might also help to add a time element to your resolution if you are working towards a mid-year goal, a wedding for example.
Write it down
It might help to write down your goals that way you won't forget their specificity and to help you keep track of how you are doing. You can buy little note books from Poundland if you like to physically write things down or you can use a note taking app on your phone/tablet so you have it to hand at all times. You could also start a blog if you want to turn your resolutions into a hobby (two birds with one stone if your resolution is to start blogging!).
Don't take on too much
There is no point in making loads of resolutions because you won't be able to tackle everything at once. Start by having a think about which goals will take the most time to achieve. Choosing to exercise for 30 minutes each day in order to lose weight will take a longer time to achieve so you could start with attempting that first. Once you've got used to changing your habits you could start to take on another resolution.
Preparation
This is sort of related to to the above point. Don't go into something if you are not prepared. Quitting smoking but not having the right support in place will ultimately lead to you starting again. You can't start going on a daily jog if you don't have a sports bra that fits you or comfortable running shoes. It is better to put something off until you are completely prepared than to start, fail and then feel badly about yourself. Just make sure that you don't keep putting something off otherwise you will never achieve it.
Reviewing
This relates to the point about writing stuff down. You need to check in every now and again to see what you have achieved. Not only will this keep you motivated but it will also give you an indication of how close you are to achieving your goal. I'd suggest reviewing your goals every month. You might want to extend or decrease a deadline or completely change your goal depending on how well you are doing. You have to remain interested to achieve long term goals.
In my future blog posts I'll be covering the following resolutions and I'll be putting up the links here once I've post:
1. Exercise more
2. Eat healthier (we will cover alcohol too)
3. Give more to charity
4. Save money
5. Get a new job
6. Manage stress better
7. Be more productive
8. Spend More Time with Family
9. Learn something new
10. Quit smoking
I hope you have a lovely start to 2014 and don't get too drunk!
