You Can Do It (How To Stick To Your Resolutions)

Happy New Year!

I absolutely love the beginning of a New Year, due to the excitement and endless possibilities ahead. After all the things 2016 brought me, I was particularly excited for a fresh start.

If you’re anything like me, you have a list of all the things you want to achieve/improve on in 2017, otherwise known as ‘resolutions’. I have even gone to the extent  of categorizing my goals and breaking them down into smaller, achievable ones.

I decided to write this post after seeing the huge number of posts online about how people are acting upon their goals (usually diets)! I am aware that some people are against the cliché idea of ‘New Year, new me’, but I believe that any form of an attempt to improve yourself and your happiness is worth it; January is a great time to re-focus yourself.

This year, I have seen a huge amount of negativity in response to resolutions. There seems to be this association between resolutions and failing. But by presuming we will fail, aren’t we are already subconsciously setting ourselves up for failure?

If you have set yourself realistic goals and prepared yourself for them, what is stopping you from achieving them? I kind of get the sense that people make resolutions, knowing that they will break them. Yes, okay, I’ll admit it, for me, lots of last year’s goals and resolutions weren’t met or stuck to, but some of them were… and maybe if I had a more focused mindset and ignored those around me that were demonstrating negativity, I would have been more successful.

This year I have taken steps to ensure I have the best chance at succeeding with my resolutions.

1. I have reflected on what prevented me last year and I am taking steps to ensure it doesn’t reoccur.
2. My Goals are clear, achievable and realistic.
3. I am eliminating other people’s negative attitude towards New Year goals (to the best of my ability).
4. Daily motivation! From watching Ted Talks and reading quotes, to thinking about what I want in the future.
5. Self Kindness! Okay, I can be pretty harsh on myself, but the more pressure I put on myself, the more likely I am to reach breaking point and give up. If I remind myself that the changes I am making are CHOICES and slip ups are human as long as I keep things balanced, I am more likely to persevere.

I know the year has just begun, but I am making a conscious effort to remind myself that I can do it, and I wanted to write this to remind you that YOU CAN DO IT too. Just because other people aren’t succeeding with their own new year’s resolutions, doesn’t mean you will fail too.

I know it’s not easy and please don’t think that I am not finding it challenging. The changes we make will soon become habits and get easier, we just need to keep going. The hardest part is starting. Don’t set yourself up for failure before you’ve even tried.  The only thing preventing us from achieving our dreams is our mindset.

WE CAN DO IT.

 

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