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Happy new year!
The new year has come and for many, it’s a point in time to start something new. The reset of our calendar year symbolises the beginning and most take this as an opportunity to commence their new year’s resolutions.
Resolutions—we all make them but, then again, we’re also guilty of not going through with them in the end. In fact, almost all resolutions never even make it past the first week of the new year!
But, why is that?
Some of us go to extremes to prepare ourselves for said resolutions. For example, one of those desired resolutions was to start living healthier and actively go to the gym. Sounds like an excellent resolution! So, you sign up at your local gym and take advantage of the end-of-the-year sales to go on an activewear shopping spree.
You’d think spending so much money would be enough to keep you motivated and consistent to firmly add this good resolution to your lifestyle. But then slowly, we find ourselves slacking and eventually leave the resolution to collect dust until the next new year.
We invest so much time and effort into it but eventually, it becomes futile. It’s not that we do not desire to stick to our resolutions, but most people don’t understand how hard it actually is to maintain consistency.
With that, this year is going to be different. Gone are the days when it's joked that resolutions don’t stick, while you become the living proof that yes they can! Here we’ve created a guide on how to conquer your new year’s resolutions with success.
- Healthy Habits The RIGHT Way
Essentially, resolutions are the basis of habits we would like to implement into our lifestyle. However, a habit cannot be rooted in us with a snap of our fingers (we wish it was that easy!). In fact, it can actually take us from 21 to 90 days to fully create a habit and maintain it.
Sounds like a lot, but we’ve got to start somewhere and if that somewhere is today, then the you a month from now will already be almost halfway through building a habit. There’s no express lane if you’re truly committed to creating a change for yourself because, indeed, all good things take time.
So the basis of starting a habit is to not immediately put your 100% into it. Start off small but consistent. Essentially, the act of showing up every day (even if it’s slow and short) is better than falling short of your journey since it’s too overbearing.
For example, if your new year’s resolution is to start reading more. Don’t ham 100 pages in one night! Instead, find a time that works best for you—before going to bed, on your public commute to work, etc—and read a few pages.
Eventually, you’ll find yourself doing this routinely and may even be looking forward to it as the highlight of your day!
- Let Peer Pressure Get To You By Posting Online
Do we condone succumbing to peer pressure? Absolutely not, you do you, glen coco. But is this (read: unfortunately) incredibly effective? Surprisingly, yes.
In this digital age, the wonderful online world of social media platforms is ingrained in our personality. Isn’t it great that we’re able to stay connected with everyone? Whether it be your close friends on chats, your neighbour’s cat’s Instagram page and even witness to celebrities' unhinged inner thoughts (we are most definitely talking about Lewis Capaldi’s TikToks).
With that, take advantage of everyone watching your moves through the digital screen by posting online your resolutions. Do it every day and we’re positive that friends who are updated on your stories and tweets will definitely bring it up during conversation. They’ll notice your consistency, but they’ll also detect when you start slacking.
So use this pressure to maintain the progression momentum of your resolutions. Of course, it won’t be forever, just until you start getting the hang of being consistent. A little stress doesn’t hurt, right?
- Force Your Friends To Join You
Friends are there for your highs and your lows. They’re also there when you need support (even if it’s a little forced—surely they don’t mind).
Therefore, rally your friends—that may even share the same resolution—and make said resolution a group activity you can bond over. It’s a little less daunting when you have a good support system to push and motivate you, so start a run club, knitting sessions, weekly therapy visits, and so on.
This is a great way to not only stay consistent with your resolution but may even improve your relationship with your friends. So go and drag your friends into the loop and we’re sure you’ll succeed in your new year's resolutions with a breeze.
- Make A Bet You (Literally) Can’t Afford To Lose
What is more disappointing than failing your new year’s resolution? It’s failing your new year’s resolution AND tarnishing your pride of losing a bet.
Incredibly unlawful tip, but could making the stakes higher be the key to a successful resolution? You might hit jackpot on this one.
The pressure and what’s at stake may just boost your resilience to prevail and succeed with your resolution. It’s great motivation especially if you can’t afford to lose it—literally!
So grab a friend and bet on whatever you see fits whether it be money, a prized possession or even a dare you are absolutely terrified of doing. Now you most definitely can succeed in your new year’s resolution or pay the cold price of slacking off.
Ending Food For Thought
At the end of the day, new year’s resolutions are meant to be fun, enjoyable, and if successful, may be a great addition to your everyday life.
They are there to push us to become better versions of ourselves. Even if you fall short, you can always pick up the habit right where you left off later in the year. It’s the effort that counts.
Unless you actually made a bet—then sorry to hear that, bud.
Good luck!