How You Can Keep New Year's Resolutions?

The New Year is approaching and maybe you have already decided to make a New Year's resolution. It is a habit to make New Year's resolutions with personal goals settings, for example losing weight, regular exercise, stop smoking or even to save a certain amount of money each month. Most everyone has made resolutions in the past and many of them were soon broken. The same will happen with the New Year's resolutions of next year if you don't follow certain guidelines.

Here are some tips which may help you to keep your New Year's resolutions:

*Planning

You can best plan your resolutions before the Christmas holiday starts. This will give you time to choose a resolution which is attainable and important for you. If you are not convinced about the positive effects you will likely fail to keep your resolution. It has no sense to plan running 3 times each week if you don't like this sport. You may enjoy the same positive effects with practicing another sport.

Planning ahead is necessary because you need to keep your resolution for months or even forever. Planning the first day of the year will be based on the mood of this one particular day and you will possible choose for a resolution which doesn't fit you.

*Realistic goals

You may want to lose weight but you can only succeed if you need are honest with yourself. There are several ways to lose weight but it is not a good idea to make a resolution to avoid your favorite dessert completely, for example ice-cream. It is better to set some realistic goals which can include choosing healthier desserts, for example fruit. Your goal is to lose weight and you will have more chance to reach your goal if you eat for example once a week ice-cream instead of every day.

*Timing

If you want to succeed in your resolution you need a time limit to reach your goal. This will give you the courage to follow a certain plan which is attainable. For example, you want to run 10 miles in 6 months. If you have made a schedule to build up your distance slowly and meet your time limit, you can easier keep your resolution because you will maintain a certain running habit during all these weeks and prevent injuries. This will prevent to skip days when you need to exercise.

*A notebook

It is recommended to write everything down in a notebook and keep this always with you. It is useful to make a list of all the things you have to do and also the progress you have made. You can consider this book as a motivator factor to reach your goal. For example, in case of exercise; it is important to mention which exercises you need to do and make a summary of all your findings after your exercise.

Even weather circumstances, your speed, your weight or anything which can be important to succeed are useful details which you need to write down in your notebook. This can be useful if something didn't go according your plan and might be useful for adapting your schedule

*Share your resolution with friends and family

A New Year's resolution is no secret and it is important you tell your friends and family about your resolution. They may want to encourage you to succeed in reaching your goal. Probably they will follow your results and the progress you make. It is maybe useful to make a bet with your friends if you fail and promise them something they like, for example a box of chocolates or a bottle of wine.

*Rewarding

Rewarding is a motivation key to reach your goal. If your goal is to lose weight; you can reward yourself with something you like but something that doesn't damage the result you reached. It is not a good idea to reward yourself with a box of sweets but maybe you are happy with a DVD of your favorite movie or a getaway with friends for one weekend.

*Take it easy

Being obsessed to reach your goal is a wrong attitude. Everyone has bad and good days and maybe you don't succeed the first time or you have some delay to reach your goal. Don't despair and try again or maybe you need revision of your schedule. Even the best sport performers can't plan a new record on a specific day.

Keeping your New Year's resolution requires motivation and courage. You need to be convinced about certain positive effects related to your resolution and to avoid making more resolutions at one time. The reward can help you to achieve your goal and result in a lifestyle change which will benefit your life.