I don’t like the words resolutions. It just seems like a big setup to me.

Every year we say we’re going to do x, y and zed. Every year some of us give up quickly. Okay me… I give up quickly sometimes. I had to reframe ‘resolutions’ in my mind and think of it more like a pathway to success, a way to get a new beginning on goals I’ve already set for myself. Life altering lifestyle changes, instead of one-off ideas. 

Over the years I have seen what works and what sets me up for failure… here are my tips to actually KEEP those New Year’s resolutions… 

Think short-term vs. long-term.

If you look at your resolutions as small steps, you’ll have more success. For instance, if you want to save money, think a small portion per week rather than a whole year. Lose weight? I will replace one unhealthy food with a healthy one each week. Or, I’ll exercise 15 minutes a day for a week.

It’s about the journey, not necessarily the result.

You’ll have more success if you think of these as lifestyle changes instead of one-off resolutions. When you feel like you have control over a goal, they’re easier to achieve. A resolution like ‘Each day I will focus on one small area of the house I want to de-clutter.’ This is FAR more manageable than the overall resolution of ‘I need to get my life organized’.

Set aside time for your resolution.

Life is crazy busy, making it almost impossible to do the things we need to do for ourselves. Schedule in this time, just as you would any other appointment. You can even go as far as setting alarms on your phone so that the notification will remind you to take “me time”.

Don’t go it alone.

Everything is better with a friend, including resolutions, and it can be more than just a walking buddy. Want to start saving money on groceries? Challenge a friend. Plan meals around the store ad, clip coupons and then compare receipts and see who saved the highest percentage.

Name it and claim it. 

When you tell people about your resolutions it becomes your truth. Words have power in the realm of social accountability.  And because of the internet, you can send your goals out into the universe, telling the whole world what you’re doing. It helps, it really does.

Forgive setbacks.

We’ve seen and we’ve done it. We’ve messed up and gotten off track and then thought “Oh just forget it”. Stop throwing babies out with bathwater. So what, you had a moment of weakness and ate all the chocolatey things. Big deal! If weight loss were super easy, it wouldn’t be the number one resolution, year after year since the beginning of time. Don’t use small slip-ups as an excuse to give up on big goals. Forgive yourself, move on and keep on keeping on!