Best Tips for Keeping Your New Year's Resolutions

As sure as death and taxes, you can count on millions of people making New Year's resolutions January 1st. Equally as certain as death and taxes is the fact that many people who have made New Year's resolutions will break some or all of their New Year's resolutions. In fact, just six months into the year, 54% of people have broken their resolutions.

Of course not all people break their resolutions. Many people use January 1st as the beginning of a new life, so to speak: One that is smoke free, stress free, and debt free. Some people have more exercise time, family time or volunteer time. Whatever your goals are, making positive changes in your life will ultimately make your life happier and fuller.

Here are a few steps you can take to ensure your New Year's resolutions will be successful life changes.

Write
It has been said, an unwritten goal is only a wish. Writing your goals or New Year's resolutions forces you to visualize them, and it creates a contract with yourself. When you write your goals, be positive. Write your goals in the positive, in terms of the person you want to be, not the person you want to change. Also, write your goals as if they are already true. Don't forget to be specific and add details. What exactly do you want? By outlining your goals this way, you are helping your subconscious mind get on board with your goals. It will also help if you have some kind of subjective statement that can be measured, such as, "I will go for a 30 minute walk 4 times a week at 8:15 am."

Tell Others
Share your goals with friends, colleagues or family members. Choose supportive people who will be there to prod you along should you start to falter. If you have a resolution to quit smoking and friends and family know about this goal, they can be sensitive around you and keep triggers to a minimum. There may even be someone you can buddy up with and work on a goal together. This will give you an even better chance for success.

Be Accountable
If you have someone other than yourself you need to be accountable to, you will be more likely to keep working on your goal. A business or life mentor is a perfect person to be accountable to. If you have a goal buddy, you can be accountable to each other. If you need professional help, get it, and be accountable to that person. There are many on line support groups for all kinds of goals and resolutions. Making a respected friend or colleague proud is a great motivator for sticking to your resolutions.

Make a Plan
Map out a plan for your goal. Break it down into bite sized pieces. Rather than stating you "eat better", break it down into steps that eventually lead to your healthier lifestyle. Examples could be "I will cook a home cooked meal 5 times a week" or, "I will eat one serving of dessert food a day". Then work on one thing at a time. Each smaller goal will be getting you to your big goal.

Periodic Evaluations
Stop and check your progress every so often. This could be once a week, or once a month, or maybe every day, depending on your need. Don't be afraid to change your plan if things are not working out. Adjust your smaller goals to fit your needs. Checking your progress is a great way to see just how far you've come and that is a huge motivation to keep going. Keep track of your progress in a journal or notebook. Write down thoughts or feelings along the way.

Reward But Don't Blame
When you have success, reward yourself, but don't get discouraged if you fail. Use the experience to find out what went wrong and try again. Most people don't "get it right the first time". For examples, most people who quit smoking try 4 times before they are successful. Habits can be hard to break, but determined people can do anything.