As the calendar moves into the New Year, many people will be setting goals and resolutions. It’s a time to have a fresh start. You may have set New Year’s resolutions in the past, only to have them fail after a few weeks. There are several reasons this happens. Perhaps your goals were too lofty or unrealistic. Maybe they weren’t specific enough or you didn’t have a plan on how to follow through with them. Don’t worry; there are several things you can do to have a better shot at sticking with those plans and goals.

How to stick with your New Year’s resolutions

Set Realistic Goals

Of course you have big plans, whether it is to eat healthier, exercise more, drink less or improve communication. These are all wonderful things to strive for. However, it is unrealistic to think that you will engage in these improved behaviors 100% of the time. How about shooting for 80%? That might be more realistic. If you set goals that are too high, you are more likely to fail and give up after a short period of time. We want you to set yourself up for success.

Make your resolutions specific

You might say that you want to lose weight. Well is 1 pound enough? Or do you want to lose more? It might be best to stick with a reasonable amount each week. If you are choosing to exercise more, how many days per week is that and how long will the workout last? If you are going to decrease your drinking, how many drinks per days/week will you do that?

Have a plan for your New Year’s resolutions

Now that you have your specific goal, how will you carry that out? For example, if you plan to eat healthier, will you be cutting out sweets? Your plan might be to get them out of your home and not purchase any moving forward.

What is your plan for drinking less? Will you hang out more with friends who don’t drink? Will you stay out of bars? Maybe you will have a soft drink or water between drinks. What will you do if someone pressures you to drink more? These are just a few think to think about.

Accountability

Do you want to have an accountability partner? Research shows that if you have a goal and say it out loud to another person, you are more likely to stick with it. If you have a friend or family member who is going to ask you about it, you have a better chance of staying with your resolution. Perhaps this person also has the same goal. It’s easier if someone is in the same boat as you.

Keep track of your progress

It may seem like a silly step, but you would be surprised at how much keeping track of your progress will lead to behavior change. You can see your successes and struggles. Knowing you will be writing it down, makes you accountable to yourself.

In grad school I took a course called Biological Basis of Behavior. We all had to choose a behavior we wanted to change and keep track of it. I was surprised at how well it worked.

How to handle setbacks

Whenever we are working on behavior change we will experience setbacks. It doesn’t mean you are weak or can’t handle it, it means you are not perfect. None of us are. Recognize it as a bad day or a day you struggled. Perhaps journal about what made it a rough day. Were you upset about something? Are you sick? Have you not been taking care of yourself? Learning these triggers will help you move forward. Tomorrow is a new day and you can start fresh.

Be Flexible with New Year’s resolutions

If your routine is thrown off, be flexible about what you can and cannot do. Maybe you are going on vacation and won’t be able to do your typical workout. That is OK. Just recognize that is the case and as soon as you get back to your normal routine you will exercise as you did prior to your trip.

If you are visiting someone you probably won’t be able to eat the same way you do at home. Again, do the best that you can.

Being prepared for these situations will help you stick with your plan, vs. just give up because you were unable to stick with your resolution.

Celebrate milestones

Be sure to celebrate your successes along the way. These can be small successes, even if you achieved your goal for one day. You will feel good about yourself and it will give your more energy to stick with it. Share your successes with those close to you.

Therapy

If you are struggling with your New Year’s resolutions and need some extra help along the way, therapy can help. Give me a call at 713-304-6554 and we will come up with a plan to achieve your goals.

Happy New Year,

Debbie