Tips for Keeping Those New Year's Resolutions

It's only three days into the New Year. How are you doing on that resolution of yours?

Many people find that they make resolutions year after year and never seem to keep them. If you're interested about that topic, please see another article that I published entitled, "New Year's Resolutions: What's the Deal?"

Anyway, if you're like me, and tired of making resolutions that never stick, you may want to follow these tips that I've found.

First, you want to start small. Be realistic. Don't resolve to do something that's not possible. If you resolve to do something you are not capable of, you'll never see the results of your hard work at trying to keep the resolution, and thus more than likely stop working toward your resolution, abandoning It, and defeating the purpose.

Plan your resolution ahead of time. Don't do something spur of the moment on New Year's Eve. Instead, think of something that you've wanted to tackle for awhile, and something that you're willing to put your heart into regardless of the time of year or the tradition. For instance, the resolution to become a freelance writer and start making money from home really came before the New Year for me, but I used the New Year as a chance to buckle down and get started. (I talk about this in the other article I wrote, as well.) The desire to quit smoking or to lose weight may be something that you've dealt with for awhile. Use the New Year as a motivator to get started, and do it regardless of "resolution" status.

In addition to planning the resolution itself, make a plan of attack. How will you accomplish your resolution? When do you expect to see your final result? Continuing with my example, I decided to tackle it with die hard writing articles and submitting them to AC. I won't submit everyday, but just in the ones I've submitted, I have seen financial results, (small, but there) and I'm building the portfolio I want. My final result won't come for awhile, and I don't have a set time for that determined, but the fact that I've already seen something tangible toward my resolution is a great motivator to keep moving with it. The reason I've seen a result already is because I made a plan, and I'm sticking to it. Write your plan down, and refer to it often. If it's out of sight, it's probably out of mind, so keep it where it'll force you to think about it.

Another tactic to use is to tell people around you about what you're trying to do. If you're tying to lose weight, those who know can push you in the right direction, instead of shoving a chocolate cake in front of you and telling you how wonderful it tastes. Those people who know what's going on can support you with words of kindness and motivation when you start losing steam, to keep you on track with your goal in sight.

Perhaps the tip that I think is the most important is to reward yourself for your progress. If you're dieting, and you've done well, don't crash it. Instead, celebrate with a small treat that you wouldn't normally eat, or keep food out of the celebration all together by buying yourself a new outfit.

Track your progress. Focus on sub-goals that will make it possible for you to reach your larger goal. For me, each time I write an article is a step. Then, when it gets published, it's another. Each accomplishment of a sub-goal is reason to smile, and to keep pushing forward.

Don't obsess. Obsessing over your goals will not help you accomplish them. Focus on them and work toward them, yes, but don't let them encompass all that you are. If you mess up, don't freak out. Just pick it back up and continue on. And most importantly, keep trying. You can resolve to do anything at anytime, and you CAN do it.

I hope this advice helps you, and in sharing it with all of you, I hope that I'll be able to better follow through with my own resolution.