It’s the beginning of a new year! More or less, you probably have your New Year’s resolution in mind already. Now, we all know how these resolutions are synonymous with broken promises. But this year, we want to help motivate you into making these goals possible, especially if it’s health-related. Below are a few things that you need to take note of so that your resolutions won’t end up in ditches this 2018.
What Motivates You?
Without proper motivation, you won’t be able to do things right and be able to continue doing it for the long-term. Sit down and think about what you really want to achieve this year and find out what really motivates you. Do you want to lose weight? Do you want to improve your health? Or do you want to be able to do more physical activities this year? Find your inspiration and use it to achieve your goals. If you know what you really want, then you’ll know where to start.
Make Concrete Plans
Planning makes it easier for you to achieve your goals because you’re aware of your progress. Create an outline of the changes you need to make and find a way to include it in your daily schedule. As much as possible, be realistic with your plans. Don’t create new plans that are hard to fit in your daily life. Bigger changes need a gradual transition in order to be done effectively.
If you want to switch from vegetarian to veganism this year, you need to start listing down all the non-vegan things that you patronize; from food choices and household materials. Then, you have to list down all the alternatives that you need to purchase. In order to do this effectively, you might have to do a little sourcing over the internet on where you could buy these alternatives before you dive into the lifestyle. You have to consider that some options may not be available in your country. As you can see, you need to really think about your concrete plans. Never, ever dive into something that you haven’t really thought about or planned ahead of. That’s a recipe for disaster (and we’re trying our best not to be like that this year!)
Create SMART Goals
By SMART goals, it means: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely. You can choose to create daily goals, weekly goals, monthly goals and yearly goals.
Create a detailed checklist and make sure to tick the things you’ve done at the end of the day. Checklists can make you feel like you’re making progress, even if it’s just little by little! It can help reduce the feeling of impatience and disappointment when you feel like you’re not making or seeing any progress at all (Especially if your goal was to lose weight.) Always remember, progress is progress. No matter how small the progress is, congratulate yourself! Each day is one step ahead of fulfilling your New Year’s resolution. Each day is a progress in the making, so make it count!
Take It Slow & Add A Little More Patience
Rushing your goals especially if it’s about losing weight or being healthier this year takes a lot of patience and hard work. It’s not a goal that you can reach in a week or just a few months for visible results. Depending on how your body reacts to the change, results will be different from one person to another. However, don’t be discouraged if you can’t see drastic changes even after a lot of hard work.
If your goal was to eat less because you’ve been giving in to stress eating and binging for the past few months, don’t start by skipping meals or starving yourself. First, list down all the things that you usually eat that you consider unhealthy. Then, on the other side list down the healthier alternatives. The next step would be to do your grocery ahead of time and fill your fridge only with healthy options. Stop reaching for the unhealthy ones! You don’t really have to eat less to lose weight, you just need to choose healthier alternatives.
Remember: your efforts will always pay off, maybe not today, maybe not next week or next month, but it will at some point. Don’t give up until then!
It’s Okay To Make Mistakes
If there are days that you missed one on your checklist because you had something a lot more important going on, forgive yourself. If it’s possible to move that for tomorrow, let yourself adjust. It’s okay to make mistakes and you don’t have to be too hard on yourself. This year is a journey and it’s an adventure that isn’t all about laughs and rainbows. There are days wherein you may feel like you can’t even finish half of your checklist and that’s fine. As soon as you’re ready to get back on your feet, feel free to resume. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean it’s okay to keep skipping your list. If you want results, then be ready to keep moving. If you made concrete plans and SMART goals, it’s easy to keep going with your new routine without having to make excuses for yourself. Remember: It’s okay to make mistakes as long as you don’t do them on purpose and you always make sure to learn from them.
With all of this in mind, we hope that this new year will be a good one for all of us; especially health-wise.
Great article. I really needed to read this. I always make resolutions during New Year’s but I can’t even last a week on keeping it. I guess it’s usually because I don’t exactly create plans for it. I just keep in mind things like “Oh, I’ll do this.” But never actually think about how I can achieve it. My usual resolution is losing weight, but I never really had the right motivation and patience to keep going.
Sometime around last year, I tried including physical activities like jogging and other basic cardio to my daily routine. I never got around sticking to it because doing it in the morning would cause me to fall asleep midday. The problem is that I just feel so tired after my exercise to the point that I could barely function throughout the day. For others, it’s supposed to be giving you adrenaline rush and makes you more awake and productive, but it was the other way around for me. I stopped doing it because of that and never really lost weight.
It’s frustrating to keep working on something but you can’t see results. I guess I’m an impatient person.
My resolutions are mostly about money, but I never really got to saving anything
I liked reading this. But not because I had a new year’s resolution I wanted to do. It’s more of a motivational thing for me in reaching my goals this year. I hated the term “New Year’s Resolution” so I call it life goals instead. It makes it sound more meaningful than just something you want to achieve for a year.
Patience really isa virtue if you want to get somewhere with your resolutions. Seriously, I haven’t really heard of someone who has managed to get through half a year with their resolutions. I’d give that person a medal if I meet him/her.?
Hahahaha! Exactly! Watch how people go through their facebook statuses with their resolutions then ask them after a month if they’re still onto it.?
I love how this article is in so much positive light. It can apply to life in general and not just this new year fad.
If you really want to be serious about doing something with your goals, then you really have to make concrete plans. You can’t just go on a diet and then not know where to start. Planning everything and putting it on paper is the old way but the best way. That’s like going to war without any weapons. It really is a recipe for disaster!
Love the last bit. Others beat themselves up for making mistakes during their ‘NY resolution journey’. I’ve met someone who resulted to starving herself the whole day because she felt so guilty having dessert the other night. It’s such a negative feeling that you don’t really need for a positive change that you’re trying to make in your life. You’ll end up hating what you’re doing if you keep going that way. Love what you’re doing and you’ll go such a long way with your new lifestyle.?
I agree. Especially with losing weight and dieting. Don’t ever do that! If you ate a cookie because you want it, get over it and don’t be too upset about it. At some point, you really wanted to eat it anyway.
This article is what I really needed this 2018.