Are your determined to make next year’s resolutions stick? We’ve got 10 great tips to help you stay focused and achieve your personal goals in 2019.
What are your New Years Resolutions?
1. Document your Plans and Progress
Write your plans and intentions down in pen and ink, so you’ll be able to reference them at any point. Tracking your progress by keeping a journal and taking pictures at different stages of the journey, can really help to envisage how the end result will change your life.
2. Start Early
If your ready to make a change, why wait until New Year’s Eve to start planning your resolutions? Use the few lull days between Christmas and New Year wisely, to really think through the changes that you want to make. Remember the 5 P’s…Perfect Planning Prevents Poor Performance!
3. Reward Yourself
Give yourself a little treat, once you’ve reached certain milestone with your progress. Give yourself a rest day from thinking about your mission. Or why not give yourself a reward based around health and well being? A spa day, a massage or something that relaxes you. This will help give you extra grit and determination when your finding it difficult to stay focused.
4. Don’t live in the past
Past resolution haven’t worked out, for whatever reason. So the likelihood is, they won’t work for you this time. Make it a brand new resolution! If you’ve tried to lose weight before, and that is your goal again this year..reshape the resolution. Instead of setting a strict target and a goal weight, try cutting out snacks and just sticking to meals only. This will be far less punishing, more realistic and the weight will drop off. It’s a new year, a fresh start, so set new life goals.
5. Check List
There’s no denying the power of a list! Many people can’t live without a list of some sort. A shopping list, a Christmas present list, a ‘to do’ list. It focuses the million and one things going on in your mind, directly onto the tasks in hand. Break down the resolutions you have made, make a list and feel that rush of accomplishment as you strike off each item!
6. Be Unique
It’s easy to follow the crowd with resolutions. As individuals, other people inspire us, but it’s easy to get lost in unrealistic thoughts, when you start comparing your goals and ambitions to others. Nobody knows you, like you. Channel in on what you want to and can achieve, listen to yourself and your needs from life. Then set your own resolutions from there. It’s guaranteed to be far more effective that trying to achieve the goals of others.
7. Keep It Simple.
Life is complicated enough as it is, and change requires hard work, dedication and energy. Don’t be over ambitious with your resolutions, focus on just one or maybe two aspects of your life that you want to change. If you think about just making one change throughout year for the better, isn’t that a great result? Giving up alcohol and sugar full stop will be highly unlikely to be achievable. Only having alcohol on the weekend and having just one treat day a week is far more realistic.
8. Share Your Goals
Let friends and family know how seriously you want to make these changes and ask them to encourage you when it gets tough. If you increase your support network, you’ll reduce the risk of failure. Good friends will always want the best for you, so turn to those when you feel like your self motivation is taking a dip.
9. Don’t Give Up
If you manage to see your resolution through, with no slip ups, that’s great! But most of us will revert to old habits every now and again, especially at the beginning. Don’t underestimate how hard it is to change a habit. But equally do not be hard on yourself if you do lose track. This is when you really start to build your strength in character. Forgive yourself for the wobble and start back on your mission with added determination the next day.
10. Keep Picturing the End Result
Keep the image of your final goal fixed in your mind. There is a tendency to allow that image to fade, once the initial adrenaline rush of setting the resolution fizzles out. Don’t allow yourself to lose sight of the reward waiting for you at the end of your tough journey. Picture it for 30 seconds every morning when you wake up and 30 seconds before you go to bed. Leave a reminders around your home, little prompts to take your mind back there.
We wish you all the best of luck in achieving your New Year resolutions. Your body is something that should always be cared for. Talk to us about how our chiropractic care can help you ‘Get Well, Stay Well and Be Well’ in 2019.