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Only 8 percent of people who set a New Year’s resolution succeed in achieving it. And if you made a health-related resolution for yourself, chances are you’ve likely given up on it by now.
Instead of completely giving up and waiting until next New Year’s Eve to set a new goal, it’s time to get back to work. Here’s how.
1. Revise your resolution
One reason many resolutions fail is because the resolution is too huge of a goal to achieve all at once. For instance, for someone who hasn’t worked out or gone to a gym in years, resolving to start going to the gym every day may be too drastic of a change. Similarly, setting the goal to completely cut out all sugar or junk food or to lose 100 pounds are audacious goals.
If you think your original resolution failed because it was unrealistic, make it over into something you can achieve within a few weeks or months. Instead of setting the goal to run a marathon, if you haven’t been a runner, work toward running a mile or a 5K race – it’s a more realistic goal that can help you eventually get to a marathon.
You may have failed because you set too many goals for yourself – if you set a goal to work out seven days a week, cut out junk food and lose 100 pounds in 2016, you’ve likely overwhelmed yourself. Instead, try one goal at a time.
Maybe your resolution was too vague and that’s why it failed.
Setting the goal to lose weight, workout more or increase your strength may be too general, making it hard to stay motivated. Determine exactly how much weight you want to lose or how much weight you want to be able to lift and set a specific timeframe.
2. Write it down
Research has shown writing down your resolution makes you more likely to achieve it. Writing it down can help you gain a clear perspective of what your ultimate goal is as you hash out the specific details of how to achieve the goal.
If your resolution is to lose weight, write down how much you want to lose, what your diet will consist of each day, and when you’re going to exercise.
If your resolution is to get fit or exercise more, write out what days you plan to work out and what those workouts will be. If your goal is to eat healthier, write down what foods you want to eat more of and what foods you want to wean out of your diet – you can even use this as an opportunity to come up with a basic grocery shopping list.
3. Turn to apps
It’s amazing what technology can help you do. There are thousands of apps that can help you with your resolution. If your goal is a healthier diet, try a food tracking app to help you note what you’re eating and your food’s nutritional value.
If your resolution is fitness-based, try wearing a fitness tracker that will push you to move more each day or fit in more active minutes – these tracker apps can help you compete with your friends and give you access to recipes and work outs to try on your own.
4. Hire a professional
If you felt like you didn’t know what you were doing the first time around, a professional may be able to help you.
A dietitian or nutritionist can teach you what foods you should and shouldn’t eat as well as put together an eating program to help you eat healthier and/or lose weight. A personal trainer can show you what type of exercises are best for you and how to perform them properly to avoid an injury.
Plus, these professionals will hold you accountable, track progress and make sure you have all the tools you need to be successful.
Don’t want to pay for a personal trainer? Ask a friend to be your workout partner to hold you accountable to your workout schedule and give you a healthy dose of fitness competition.
5. Keep track and reward yourself
As you start working toward your revised resolution, keep track of your how you’re doing.
Documenting your progress regularly helps you see how you’re getting closer to your goal. It will also help you identify if you’ve stopped making progress –and you can get moving again sooner.
If you’re sticking to your plan and making progress, reward yourself! A treat or reward will make you feel good and further motivate you to keep working and maintain your resolution.
