What's your New Year's resolution? Do you want to drink more water? Lose those pesky love handles? Earn a raise? Or just make a conscious effort to be happier? Whatever it is, lets try to make sure it lasts longer than January 31.
It was found that 80% of New Year's resolutions fail by February. If you're trying to make a "lifestyle change" then I'm more than sure it should be lasting longer than a month. Trust me. I've heard all excuses and have used plenty of them myself. "I don't have enough time... It's not realistic enough for me... I'm over it already." It's almost as if we as humans have an instinct inside of us to help us make excuses to avoid achieving things that may seem impossible at first. It could be the flight aspect of our body's fight or flight response. Who knows? But there are plenty of ways for us to make sure the "New Me" lasts longer than 31 days.
1. Keep yourself accountable
Accountability can come from many different things. For instance, I have a reminder permanently set on my phone to remind myself to workout at LEAST 4 days a week with a motivational quote underneath. Quite honestly, it has lit a fire under my butt to get off the couch and step away from the Ben & Jerry's and make it to the gym. For others, accountability can be tracked by writing in a journal, keeping in contact with a friend, starting a new social media account, making a blog to track progress. Any of these can help you stay on top of that new year goal, especially when you skip a day and the guilt starts to slowly crawl in.
2. Make a routine out of it
Want to drink more water? Thankfully there's practically an app for anything nowadays, so go ahead and keep track of your ounces girl. Have a glass at breakfast. A bottle at lunch and another at dinner. If you implement your new goals into your daily routine, they become more of a habit than a chore and are easily adjusted to your lifestyle. This transition is what makes our resolutions turn into lifestyle changes.
3. Stay motivated
This is one of the absolute hardest things for people who make New Year's resolutions. This doesn't just apply to fitness goals, but to any resolution you set for yourself. It is so easy to find reasons to give up on ourselves and things that don't come as easy to us naturally. Find things that inspire you and make them more present in your life. Whether that be positive people, motivational quotes on your lock screen, or inspirational Instagram accounts, find your passion and people and things that push you to pursue it.
I hope we can all use some of these tips to make 2018 one of our best years yet and make our resolutions a reality instead of a dream. It's not just for a moment, it's for life.
