Are You Still Keeping Your New Year’s Resolutions?

We are all guilty of this, making new year resolutions, only to realise in February that we did not keep most of them.

Although this is a regular occurrence, most of us will still end up making new resolutions year after year.

Why not try to make this year different, and actually keep the resolutions you made?

Just imagine how good you will feel this June, when you are on track with your goals, whether they are personal or professional.

New year resolutions can actually be kept with these tactics:

Be Realistic

One of the biggest problems of keeping new year resolutions is that they are unrealistic.

For example, you can plan on getting a dream promotion this year, but that is not really up to you, is it?

Or, you can dream of losing 20 pounds, but quickly realise that you don’t want to make the sacrifices to make that happen.

Instead, keep yourself motivated by setting small and realistic goals that you can manage and keep. Instead of setting a goal weight to be at at the end of the year, why not set out to run three times a week?

This is a small enough action that you can accomplish, and while you will likely lose weight anyway, it won’t disappoint you if it’s not the weight you expect yourself to be in a year’s time.

Don’t Give Up

This may sound obvious, but don’t give up and abandon your resolution just because you may have had a failure along the way.

For example, if you decided to pursue opening your own business within the year, but it is now March and you have done nothing, pick up and start making your plan a reality.

Remember that new year resolutions do not have to stretch from January until December, and there is no straight line to success.

Whether you have not started yet, or have and then failed to keep up with your goal, remember it is never too late to get back on track.

Seek Support

Psychologically, it is easier to accomplish something if you have the support of others.

Therefore, tell everyone in your circle – your family, friends and colleagues – about your resolutions, and ask them to support you along the way.

Perhaps some of them will even join you in pursuing hobbies, professional accomplishments or exercising.

If not, they can help you by motivating you to keep at it, providing tips on meeting your goals, and reminding you to persist even if you want to quit.

Make 2016 the year that you meet your goals.

Don’t give up and abandon your new year resolutions; instead, motivate yourself with these strategies to keep them and be proud of yourself at the end of the year.

Many Thanks

Mark Williams

Head of Training and Development

MTD Training