Be a Better You: Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions

“The new year stands before us, like a chapter in a book, waiting to be written. We can help write that story by setting goals.” – Melody Beattie

Out with the old, in with the new. Today is the first day of a new year and, for most of us, that means it’s time to start making some changes. We’ve learned a lot from the past year and, in order to move forward into 2016, it’s important to keep the promises that we’ve made to ourselves. Here are some tips to help you keep your New Year’s resolutions.

1. Keep It Simple

Don’t spread yourself too thin by making too many resolutions. Trying to make too many changes at once complicates things and makes them more difficult to manage. Rather than making ten resolutions, getting overwhelmed, and keeping none, make one solid resolution and stick to it.

2. Give It Serious Thought

Don’t choose a resolution just because it’s trendy. Avoid resolutions that are based on what you think you should want or what other people tell you to want. Focus on your own life, beliefs, and values. What do you want to change?

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3. Go Public

Share your goal! Tell your friends and family – tell whoever will listen. Facebook suggests creating a life event and posting motivational status updates in order to keep yourself accountable, share your success, and gather support.

4. Form a Support Group

If you know people with a similar goal, form a support group to help each of you stick to your resolution. If you don’t know anyone with a similar goal, ask a friend or two to help you out and be your person to check in with. Schedule a biweekly or monthly meet-up to get together and discuss about your accomplishments or your struggles.

5. Keep Your Eyes on the Prize

Make a list of all of the ways that you will benefit from keeping your resolution. Write it down and read it whenever you need a reminder of why you’re doing this. Keep a notebook of your progress and your feelings in order to have something concrete to look at.

6. Leave a Little Room for Failure

Nobody’s perfect and you’re going to make a mistake from time to time. Expect to revert back to old habits once or twice and don’t use this as a reason to give up. Treat these slip-ups as exactly what they are – minor setbacks. Keep moving forward.

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