How to stick to your new year’s resolutions in 2023

It’s time to welcome a brand new year. The world over, it is also the time to embark on a new journey towards self-improvement while reflecting on your performance of the past year. During this process, one gets to acknowledge the positive habits that played a key role in one’s accomplishments and also identify the negative habits that acted as hindrances in one’s personal and professional growth. Once this process of introspection is over, it is time to make resolutions for the upcoming year.

New year’s resolutions are nothing but assurances that you make to yourself to improve the quality of your life. It may be in the form of promises to incorporate new productive habits or discarding negative practices.

Making these resolutions can be a life-changing exercise if they are backed by firm determination and a solid implementation strategy.

However, people put in efforts in the initial phase of the new year to achieve these goals but eventually lose the focus and the necessary motivation. Owing to lack of consistent efforts, the objectives remain unfulfilled resulting in serious disappointment. This unsavory situation can be avoided by designing a proper action plan to implement our new year resolutions. Avoid the fading of the initial enthusiasm and demonstrate a high degree of commitment and determination to achieve the goals this year by applying the following methods.

Set achievable goals

The goals that form the most important part of any new year’s resolution should be set by carefully assessing one’s skills and abilities. Firstly, the time and resources available at your disposal to achieve the goal should be taken into count. A guy doing 50 pushups daily cannot increase it to 500 within a week. Instead, he can vow to increase the number of daily pushups to 100 and become comfortable in doing so within a week. After this goal is achieved, they can further raise the target.

Unrealistic targets can’t be achieved and the failure that comes with not achieving them can bog one down, damaging one’s confidence right at the start of the year.

Take baby steps

The way in which Indian bowler Jasprit Bumrah troubles the opponent batsmen with a lethal pace and an accurate line and length caught the imagination of a 12-year-old boy I know. This boy wanted to become a speed machine like his hero so he persuaded his father to enroll him in a cricket coaching camp.

Now, we can’t imagine this boy to be bowling at a pace of more than 150 kmph on the very first day of joining, right? Even Bumrah who had begun his cricketing sojourn just like this boy, achieved this pace and perfection after years of hard work and rigorous training.

So understand that new year’s resolutions cannot be achieved in a single go. It is necessary to take baby steps in the initial phase of starting anything. Once you feel confident and more in rhythm, efforts can be intensified.

Keep it flexible

The strategy that you design to achieve your goals should be flexible and adaptive. For instance, an insurance advisor who sets a target of selling 120 policies per year at the rate of 10 policies per month, has to be ready for any eventuality. The progress may be on expected lines in the first month, but in the second month, he may have a health problem that doesn’t allow him to perform fully. The minor setbacks caused by reasons beyond our control should also be factored in while making resolutions.

Instead of complaining about missing the usual targets, we should try to make good the loss in the coming months by putting in extra efforts.

Strengthen your determination

In most cases, we find that the enthusiasm with which we pursue the objectives of our new year resolutions fades slowly. Owing to personal problems or professional commitments, some eventually give up completely.

However, a person with a positive mindset will try to absorb the pressures of their personal and professional life and surge ahead towards the goals with great commitment and determination.

To remain determined even after the initial phase of making resolutions, one can practice visualisation exercises. This means, one should regularly visualise the positive transformation that the implementation of the new year resolutions will bring in their life. This mental activity urges and motivates one to continue exerting.

Give a time frame

One often forgets the role of discipline in achieving goals. It is important to have control over your schedule to achieve your targets. The action plan that you choose in the beginning should be adhered to on most days of the week to get solid results.

It is equally essential to nip procrastination in the bud and remain committed to your deadlines related to completion of the tasks. Having a time frame that details your resources, time and efforts is the neatest way to get to your goals in a healthy manner. You will be lost without a time frame.

Reward yourself for progress

The best way of celebrating success no matter how big or small is by rewarding oneself. If we reach a short term goal or even a long term one, we must practice rewarding ourselves. It doesn’t have to be an elaborate gift – buy yourself a chocolate or watch a movie starring your favorite actor when you lose a few kilos or when you get praised at work after the completion of a project. The system of self-rewarding does a world of good to one’s confidence. It also pushes one to keep going at it.

Write about your progress

Writing a journal or diary is a positive and a self-reflective habit that empowers people with clarity. The goals that form the crux of your new year resolutions can benefit if you document the journey.

The practice of documenting your plans and ideas in written format tends to strengthen the determination to achieve them. But remember to write the setbacks you experience in the process too. These experiences that you document may prove to be useful in your future projects as well.

Practice habit-stacking

Amazing results can be expected from habit-stacking, the practice of stacking a new positive habit or routine with an existing habit that has almost become a part of your lifestyle.

Once a healthy habit that you have factored in your new year’s resolutions is incorporated, an additional positive habit or routine can be stacked on it. For example, if you want to develop the habit of preparing to-do lists, you can stack it with your morning yoga sessions. This way, you can work on a to-do list every morning right after practicing yoga.

This is an exercise that makes you more efficient while adding more skills to your persona.