People have been making New Year’s resolutions since history began, but probably like the ancients, many of our healthy intentions are broken even before January is through. This year, follow our essential guide to ensure you keep your resolutions until you reach your goal and beyond.
Think about it
Take the next few days to choose your resolution. Don’t jump into anything too quickly or act on impulse. Don’t make any decisions when you’re tired, angry or stressed either as you could feel slightly irrational and over challenge yourself. Most major changes happen in stages so take time to think about the steps you need to take to in order to get to your goals.
Visualise it
“When you visualise your plan, your brain runs through and practices your better-health actions a bit like a movie,” says psychologist Dr Suzy Green. “See yourself eating better, exercising more, relaxing, getting into those smaller jeans and succeeding!” Pretty soon, you’ll be living your vision.
Write it down
Putting your goals on paper sends a signal to your brain that you’re open for business. Make your resolutions real by writing them down on paper and putting them where you’ll see them often during the day, such as your car dashboard, computer screen, purse or your bathroom mirror.
Buddy up
Share your goals with a like-minded friend and decide what you both have to do to get there. This makes you accountable to someone else and will also give you a sense of purpose and accomplishment once you and your buddy start to see success.
Limit yourself
Don’t be tempted to run off a long list of everything you’ve ever wanted to change about yourself; you won’t succeed. Choose one or two goals and you’ll feel much more focused and on top of things. You can always add new resolutions later in the year.
Break it up
Setting smaller goals as part of a major one helps to make your resolution feel a little more manageable. So, if your goal is to lose 10kg this year, break it up into segments of 1kg per month or 2kg per month for six months and weight maintenance afterwards.
Celebrate and annotate
Record your successes, your feelings and your ‘a-ha’ moment. Every time you make a better health choice, exercise and say no to something that you know can derail your diet, congratulate yourself, record it and reward yourself by letting yourself feel good about it.
Get over it
You’re human and you make mistakes. Slip ups are normal. Instead of quitting when you hit a hurdle, acknowledge it, understand why it happened, think about ways you can prevent it from happening again and then get back into the game.
In his study, US psychologist Dr Steven Kraus found that people who resolved to make better health choices got over around 14 slip-ups in the course of two years to succeed in their goals. Slip-ups may stall you, but don’t let them stop you. Expect pitfalls and create solutions beforehand. Don't blame yourself or waste time feeling guilty.
When you make a promise to yourself, the end result is important, but the process is just as crucial. A goal is really just a dream with a time frame, so make 2010 the right time to start making your dream your reality.