How to Set Your New Years Resolution and Stick To It
1. Set Small, Bite-Size Goals
When setting new years resolutions, the best advice I’ve been given is to stick to bite-sized goals. Whether you want to start drinking more water or wake up earlier, don’t overwhelm yourself by trying to do it all. I’ve been there and it doesn’t work! Rather than committing to waking up at 5am, eating healthy, exercising daily, and cooking every night just focus on one goal at a time. After you master that habit, add in another small goal and in no time you will be effortlessly mastering all of the above! And that leads me to my next point…
2. Create a new habit around your resolution
To stick to a resolution long term, it is essential to make that goal into a habit in your daily lifestyle. We have all heard that it takes 30 days to make (or break) a habit, but let’s focus on actually HOW to go about forming a new habit.
There are three parts to every habit – a cue, a routine, and a reward.
Here is an example of a self-destructing habit I’ve noticed in my life:
Cue – I get overwhelmed with the length of my to-do list.
Routine – Instead of attacking my tasks, I open Instagram to avoid thinking about them.
Reward – I temporarily get my mind off the tasks that seem daunting.
While I’m sure everyone can relate to doing something like this, I have good news. There ARE ways to form new habits that set yourself up for success.
For example, in order to stop mindlessly opening a social media app and scrolling, I have noticed that if I hide the app to where it’s not on my home screen right when I open my phone, I suddenly find myself not opening it as much. By simply adding a little more effort to finding an app, it raises your consciousness around what you are doing and you are able to make better decisions.
3. Tie Your New Habit to a Current Habit
One of the best ways to create a new habit in your life is to tie the habit you WANT to a habit you already HAVE. One example in my life is taking my probiotic. I struggled for months with being consistent taking it first thing in the morning because it was not a habit and I would forget. However, when I realized I could tie this to another morning habit that I will never forget, it suddenly became a lot easier. A morning habit I could never forget (or at least let’s hope not) is brushing my teeth. Once I set my probiotic right next to my toothbrush, I became just as consistent with it as I did brushing my teeth. Now I actually don’t have it sitting next to my toothbrush, but it has become such a habit that I don’t forget to take it! So, pick out a habit you KNOW you will never forget and find a way to tie the habit you want to it. You will suddenly find consistency around the new habit to come naturally.
4. Use Technology to Your Advantage
I am all about using what you have to your advantage and let’s just say it’s a blessing to live in these days of technology. From my sunrise alarm clock to my habit tracker app, I have many hacks I’ve learned over the years to use technology to help with forming habits. Here are a list of my favorites:
Sunrise alarm clock – this has made getting up early SO much easier (and I am not a morning person)
Zero app – this app has made intermittent fasting so easy to implement for me
Habitshare app – record all your habits in here and share them with your friends to keep each other accountable
My tip: Research apps to help with your specific goal and then read reviews to find the best app that will work for you.
What are you favorite life hack apps? Comment them below!
5. Adapt a New Mindset Around Your Goal
This tip has by far had the most impact making lifestyle changes for me. It is easy to say “I want to lose weight” and then do nothing about it because you aren’t motivated in the winter while wearing chunky sweaters that hide everything. Changing my mindset, however, and not thinking about what I want to look like has changed everything for me. I have found that I actually enjoy going to the gym and working out because I realize how much energy I have during my day after I have moved my body.
For all the natural early risers out there, I have always been jealous I didn’t get that trait. Waking up early has always been hard for me, but it wasn’t until I changed my mindset around it that I found I can consistently get up at 5:30am. No, it doesn’t get any easier on a daily basis, but when I think “how will I feel if I DON’T get up and go workout?” I instantly roll out of bed because I know how much happier I’ll be all day if I can accomplish this one thing.
Getting up early every single day is hard. Going about your day feeling bad about yourself because you didn’t get up early and don’t have time to workout is also hard. Choose your hard!
6. Watch Other Areas of Your Life Start to Improve As Well
It’s pretty amazing how implementing one healthy habit in your life after another can start to compound and have a total shift on the direction of your life.
You start drinking more water. Slowly you start to make better food decisions because you have started consciously thinking about what fuels you. Next, you start showing up to the gym because you have more energy than you used to. Then, you start taking vitamins and supplements daily to fill your nutritional gaps. You start to feel 10 years younger again and realize you are way more productive and your business is taking off!
It really is crazy how small, daily decisions direct the future of our life. And it is actually scientific. If you start your day with discipline and check off one task, your brain releases a shot of dopamine and you feel good. Then, you are motivated to get another task done; and next thing you know, you have had a productive day and are going to sleep happy with no annoying to-do’s hanging over your head.
My tip: Just start by making your bed every morning! You will feel productive and glad you did it, motivated to check off that next task.
No Comments