Keeping your resolutions

Be Realistic & Specific

The goal is to choose resolutions that push yourself yet are still attainable. You are not likely to accomplish something that is incredibly difficult or that you have only a vague intention to do.

Form clear, sustainable targets to be able to track your progress and reach your goals.

Keep a Record

Tracking your progress both encourages and prevents you from forgetting about your resolutions. It ultimately helps you be accountable.

Either write down your progress or create some sort of visual reminder that you see every day. Recording smaller benchmarks will make reaching your goals more manageable and less daunting.

Allow Room for Error

This doesn’t mean be lenient with your goals or how to achieve them. It simply means that you can’t establish a habit without expecting some bumps in the road.

It’s important to forgive yourself for small missteps, so that you can get right back on track. After all, no one is perfect!

6 Healthy Resolution Ideas

1. Gratitude

Adding a gratitude practice into your daily routine has many proven benefits. According to a Healthbeat article by Harvard, grateful people develop stronger relationships, experience improved health, and are better equipped to deal with difficult circumstances.

All you must do is write down 3-5 things you are truly grateful for every day. After practicing this for a few weeks, your brain will begin to automatically look for things to be grateful for throughout the day.

2. Self care

Making self care a priority is a great way to ensure you are operating as your best self. After all, every relationship requires effort – even the one you have with yourself. To make self care tangible, establish more specific goals that you want to accomplish each week. For example, block off some time to read a book or explore a new hobby.

One powerful form of self care is learning to say no. Saying yes to everything will only drain your energy. Saying no to a request or an event isn’t self serving, it’s an effective way to save more energy for the experiences that you prioritize and value.

3. Acceptance

Resolving to accept where you are in life can set you free from worry and over-analyzing yourself or your circumstances.This commonly looks like accepting your past for how it has changed you, rather than regretting it. For example, accepting and embracing your body for the way it looks.

This doesn’t mean that you should settle and resist change, it just means that certain aspects of life are unchangeable and should be embraced instead.

4. Physical health

Committing to enhancing your physical health is a common new year’s resolution. You may want to lose weight, gain strength, or feel more energized. Decide which specific habits will optimize your physical health and plan tangible ways to incorporate them into your daily routine.

Maybe you set an alarm so that you can get to bed earlier, or decide to go for a 20 minute walk every day. Maybe you set aside a few hours on a Sunday afternoon to meal prep nutritious meals and snacks for the week. These smaller goals will have a big effect on your physical health in the new year.

5. Stress Reduction

Stress can have negative effects on both your short-term and long-term health. If work or family life have been causing you excess stress in the past year, it may be time to incorporate some stress reduction techniques.

Stress reduction is made much easier when you leave your perfectionism behind. Forget trying to be perfect or do everything perfectly, that is far from realistic.

6. New Experiences

Aspirations to travel and try new things are often met with restrictions such as time and money. By planning out how you can realistically achieve this goal, you will be able to experience so much more. Whether you want to travel far or try out a new cuisine at a local restaurant, create a plan for saving up the time and money to do so.

No matter what your resolution is this year, you can absolutely accomplish it. All you need is a clear intention and efficient planning! Hopefully these resolution ideas motivate you to choose a resolution that will truly help you become the best you.