On New Year’s Day many people make resolutions about something they’re going to do differently this year or something they’d like to accomplish this year. I think making a New Year’s Resolution is a great way to motivate people to change or improve something in their life. If not kept, however, a New Year’s Resolution can do more harm than help. Here are my tips on how to keep your New Year’s Resolutions this year.

Create a Specific Plan or Schedule

If you say you’re going to work out more, lose weight or eat healthier, for example, don’t let your Resolution be general. If it’s general, you probably will end up bending the Resolution until you just stop trying to follow through with it. Create a specific and attainable schedule for what you’re going to eat or when you’re going to the gym.

Tell Someone Close to you About the Resolution

Sure, internal Resolutions might sound like a great idea, but we all have our weaknesses. Something else we have? Pride. If you tell someone close to you about your Resolution, you’ll be more likely to follow through with it because you don’t want to fail. That person can also help you work towards keeping your Resolution by reminding you about it or even doing the same things you’re doing.

Chart Your Progress

Keeping track of how far you’ve come can serve as motivation to keep going. Charting your progress can also be a reminder of how much you can still improve.

Reward Yourself for Doing Well

Acknowledge when you’re doing a good job. Be your own biggest cheerleader. Just be careful to not reward yourself so much you take away from the progress that you’ve made.

Adjust your Resolution as Needed

In order to follow through with your New Year’s Resolution, it has to be attainable. No matter how hard I work, I’ll never be able to bench 400 lbs. – it just won’t happen. If I made that my New Year’s Resolution, I’d be setting myself up for failure. You might make a New Year’s Resolution thinking that you can do it only to realize three months into it that you have to adjust. Don’t be afraid to adjust it, you’re not failing at keeping your New Year’s Resolution; you’re just trying to cater to your body. Make sure that your Resolution still pushes you to improve and you’ll have to adjust again soon enough!