Stick to your New Year’s resolutions this time: 10 tips

This time you will stick to your New Year’s resolutions. Absolutely. That’s what almost everyone thinks around this time of the year. To get you to really stick to your resolutions, I’ve written down 10 tips that can help you.

Falling and failing are almost always part of dealing with a New Year’s resolution. We all know the urge to stop when we make a mistake, but there’s really no need to do that. It’s so important to get up when you fall, because that’s how you keep going with your good intentions. And it’s totally okay to make mistakes! 

It’s practically a law of nature that we’ll all make mistakes along the way. Did you ever learn to ride a bike or drive a car? Chances are you made mistakes in everything you learned, unless you’re one of those rare, amazing exceptions. But you kept going, didn’t you? You really wanted it, and it finally worked out for you! Way to go!

And the same goes for New Year’s resolutions. I’m sure anyone who has ever tried to kick a bad habit will relate to this. We’ve all been there. You’ve been trying to lose weight and suddenly you have a moment where you think, “Oh well, one piece of chocolate doesn’t matter.” And then, before you know it, you’ve eaten the whole bar! What?!?!

Don’t be too hard on yourself

That’s quite a crazy move. One piece isn’t that bad at all. In any case, much less bad than a whole bar. When you find yourself in such a situation, you should try to distract yourself. Remove yourself from that situation. This can be done very simply by just walking away, to another room or the toilet. Then ask yourself what you really want. Now and later. Do you really want to give in to that temporary pleasure? Or would you rather not, and be proud of yourself you resisted the temptation? 

That little mistake or hiccup doesn’t matter at all. You don’t have to be so hard on yourself. Making resolutions often means learning through trial and error. Just accept it. Get up and keep going.

It’s only a failure if you give up after falling. As long as you get back up on your feet, you’re on the right track!

You may be surprised to hear that the words you use to express your resolution can have a significant impact on your success.

For example, you could resolve to quit doing something. However, it is preferable to decide to begin doing something. If you make a resolution to achieve something, you have a far better chance of succeeding.

This study reveals that New Year’s resolutions can have lasting effects. 

A very important conclusion from that study:

“Participants with approach-oriented goals are more successful than participants with avoidance-oriented goals.”

In other words, it is better to aim to achieve something than to avoid something.

An example of a resolution to avoid something is: “Drink less alcohol”. You’ll then understand what you shouldn’t do. However, you’re not sure what you should do. This leaves room for doubt, ambiguity, and concern. Mistakes are easily made. 

A resolution could be as simple as: “Drink water with dinner”. You now know exactly what to do and when. Added benefit, it can easily become a habit.

Taking up something new or unusual brings clarity, enthusiasm, and direction. You know what to do. There’s no doubt. You don’t really need to think about it.

A habit is an action that you perform without thinking. It happens automatically. Almost unconscious. Examples include smoking a cigarette after supper, having a cookie with coffee, or drinking a glass of wine to relax.

You can adjust a habit to help you keep to a resolution. It is difficult to break a habit altogether. A minor tweak is typically easy. For example, you could take a walk after dinner. The cigarette habit is then replaced with walking about.

Adjusting your habitual actions increases your chances of success.

Okay, this one is easy, but not so simple. It can also require a lot of effort. However, it has the potential to be extremely beneficial. The notion is that you alter your association in such a way that your good intentions are enhanced.

For example, you may have a strong attachment with water and drink it after exercising. You can relate wine with meals. Suppose you wanted to consume less booze. Then you could alter your relationship with water. For example, visualize yourself drinking water with your next meal. If you do this more frequently, you will naturally link water with food. This will also make you drink less wine.

Association connects objects in your mind. The connection you formed can help you succeed. 

Make your intention as clear as possible. This guarantees that you are truly aware of what you want to achieve. You are forced to consider what you want out of it. You will realize that you are capable of a lot. Much more than you ever expected.

Examples of extremely explicit objectives (and some less obvious ones):

• Explicit intention: “Every other working day I will cycle for 20 minutes at 8 o’clock in the evening to improve my health.”  

• Less obvious: “I’m going to cycle more.”

• Explicit resolution: “On May 1, I will have lost 15 pounds.”  

• Less obvious: “I want to lose weight.”

• Explicit intention: “At the end of this year, I will have made $20,000 more than the previous year.”

• Less obvious: “I will earn more money.”

Making your intention explicitly clear increases your chances of success.

Good intentions take time to manifest, so don’t anticipate immediate results. If you understand this, you have already taken a huge step forward.

The difficulty is in keeping your resolution long enough for your brain to begin creating new neural pathways. If you give up too soon, your brain will quickly revert to previous habits, wasting all of your time, effort, and energy.

It is therefore critical to stick to your resolution long enough so that the brain has enough time to form those new neural pathways.

How long does that take? Don’t be scared, it can take anywhere from 30 to 254 days to form new habits. On average, it takes 66 days, but it is not an issue if one or two days are missed.

Make a resolution. It’s simple. The first few days are fine and easy. But then what? The hard part starts now. And it is hard work. You will encounter resistance and feel pain. You know this in advance, so arm yourself against it. Do this by already thinking about what opposition you will have to overcome when starting your resolution.

But how do you do that? How can you think before you start about what you will have to overcome? You do this by first thinking carefully about what the purpose of your resolution is. What will you ultimately have if your resolution is successful? Then try to understand why you have not achieved that goal yet. You identify why that goal is so difficult to achieve and what’s holding you back.

Create perseverance

If you really know what that resistance is, you also know how to overcome it. Make a plan to overcome that resistance. Write it down. Keep it safe. Re-read it as needed.

You will overcome that resistance because you have thought carefully about it in advance, and have thought about what you are going to do when things get difficult. That creates perseverance.

Don’t go at it alone. Involve people in your resolution, because you are stronger together. Consider a good friend, partner, or coach. Someone you can trust. This will help your resolution become a success.

This can be done in two ways:

1. The other person can coach you. Be a source of support for you when things get challenging. For example, by just listening or assisting you in overcoming your resistance. Even if you know how to do that  yourself (since you’ve already decided how you’re going to deal with resistance, right?)
2. The other person can hold you accountable. For example, by consistently asking what you already have accomplished, like: “How many pounds have you lost in the last week?”. Or by expecting you to attend and participate. For example, in team sports or while exercising together. Accountability and peer pressure guarantee that your drive remains high and you persevere.

You should celebrate success. Take a moment to reflect on what you’ve already achieved. No matter how small that is, it is a goal that you’ve achieved. How cool is that? You can be proud of it. No, you should be proud of it!

By celebrating success, your brain will help you persevere and keep going. Your brain’s reward system is your best friend. Celebrating successes releases endorphins. This is the so-called happiness hormone (although that is probably a nickname, not the official medical name).

By the way, that nickname is well-deserved. Endorphins make you happy. It feels good when the body produces this substance. It’s a well-known fact that endorphins are also produced when you are in love.

This is an obvious choice. This one should be number one, or better yet, shouldn’t even be a tip at all. This one is absolutely essential.

Start with a resolution only if you really want to. Any other motivation is not enough. Don’t do it for someone else or because you think it’s expected of you. Intrinsic motivation is the only way to guarantee success.

Good intentions are not enough. You have to aim for something and start doing.

I hope these 10 tips work as well for you as they do for me. If you persevere, you will succeed. 

And if you have an even better tip, please share it in the comments below.