5 best ways to make and keep a new year resolution

It’s New Year again and you will definitely make resolutions, but be warned because more than half of all resolutions fail. Some fail in January while others don’t even last till March. But this time, with the help of these 5 best ways to make and keep a new year resolutions, they don’t have to be yours. Here’s how to identify the right resolution to ameliorate your life, produce a plan on how to reach it, and become part of the small group of people that successfully achieve their goals. According to the time management firm FranklinCovey, one third of resolutioners don’t make it past the end of January.

I don’t want you to be part of the one third people who fail to achieve their resolutions, that is why this post 5 best ways to make and keep a New Year resolution will be very good for you to read and digest well. They are:

1. Pick the right resolution
2. Make a plan
3. Make it personal
4. Leap over resolution hurdles
5. Find a community

Pick the Right Resolution

You’ll give yourself your good shot at success if you set a goal that’s realizable — and meaningful too. A lot of these resolutions fail because they’re not the right resolutions. And a resolution may be wrong for one of three main reasons:

* It’s a resolution grounded on what someone differently (or society) is telling you to change.

* It’s too vague.

* You don’t have a realistic plan for achieving your resolution.

Your goals should be smart — and SMART. That’s an acronym coined in the journal Management Review in 1981 for specific, measurable, attainable, applicable and time-bound. It may work for operation, but it can also work in setting your resolutions, too.

When making your resolutions, choose the ones you want to change or achieve and not because someone wants you to or ask you to.

Make a Plan

Your end goal won’t just magically appear. There are ways to figure out how to get there, because you won’t just wake up and change your life, you not only need a plan for what to do, but also for what roadblocks you’ll come through along the way. If you’re trying to form or break a habit. Mr. Duhigg suggested breaking down that habit into its three parts: a cue, a routine and a reward.

For example:

Bad Habit: I am on social media too frequently.

Cue: I feel insolated.

Routine: I check my social media.

Reward: I feel connected.

Way to change the behavior:  Rather than checking your social media, get up and talk to a coworker.

Related: Setting Goals in 2022

Make it Personal 

Try as much as possible to make your resolutions very personal. There should be a reason why you want to change things. It shouldn’t be because of others but rather because you want to, this will give you the strength to continue striving even when the journey becomes too tough.

But while your plan should be realistic and encouraging, it should also allow for ineluctable hurdles that are going to crop up. Pauline Wallin, a psychologist and author of “Taming Your Inner Brat,” said any resolution plan should include room for mistakes. “You’re there for the long haul. You have to anticipate slip ups,” she said. “There will be times when you’ll say, ‘I’ll make a mess of things and I ’m just going to start again hereafter.’ Don’t rebuke yourself? Focus on what you’re doing well for yourself rather than what mistake you made,” she said.

Leap Over Resolution Hurdles

Nobody is perfect, and your quest for your resolution won’t be either. But you can get back on track. What’s the best way to attack problems that arise on your way to success? First, remember no matter how well you plan, change is hard. “You’re up against a part of yourself that’s not going to change. It’s always going to push at you in certain directions that are unhealthy. You’re going to have to really create something step by step in order to manage it.

Find a Community

You don’t need to do it alone, especially if your resolution starts in the new year when you’ll have plenitude of company in trying to make a life change. You don’t inescapably need to find a special group, but you should let a person or two know that you’re setting a goal. “Tell them your plan and ask them to hold you responsible”. That way it’s a public commitment, and you might feel like you have a community supporting you that wants to see you succeed.

You can also use social media to make your goal public, like posting on Facebook, along with updates of your hobby in progress. But that can be a double-whetted sword, why because,  you might get a boatload of sympathy at a time when you really need a strong drive, or indeed worse, you’ll get unasked feedback from someone you haven’t spoken to since high school. “You’ll get a lot of advice, which utmost people don’t want but are going to get anyway”.

You can give your family or friend money and ask them not to give you back until you reach your goal. Or find likeminded resolvers online like Facebook groups. Cut back on some bad influences, some family members and friends who discourage and don’t push you.

Final Thought 

If you decide to follow these steps in making and keeping your resolutions next year, I assure you will be very proud you did. Many people tend to make many unachievable resolutions, without putting the above into consideration. Make sure you make resolutions that you will be willing to change no matter the hurdles that comes your way.

Thanks for reading!