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What are New Year’s resolutions?
- Resolutions are actions you promise to do to make yourself better.
- You write them down and promise to start doing them at the start of a new year.
- These can be about improving your health, career, education or spiritual life.
- It can be a promise to stop bad habits or start good ones.
It is a New Year tradition. You make it hoping for a better year ahead.
Do people keep their resolutions?
- Studies say that only 8% of people who make resolutions succeed in keeping them.
- 75% of resolutions are continued until the first week of January.
- Only 46% make it beyond six months.
Why should you make New Year’s resolutions?
- Trying makes you a better person.
- The value is in the experience, not the end result.
- When you make a resolution, you:
- Think about your life
- Want to make improvements
- Write plans with good intentions
- These are all good actions that can make you better.
- You see your needs, goals, and potentials.
- You could be part of the 8% who keep them. You can be more disciplined than you thought.
- Resolutions can help you focus. It is a guide to help you get what you want in life.
Tips for making resolutions that work
- Plan ahead.
- Make the list before Dec. 31st.
- Think of what you want to achieve next year.
- Example: Improve your health in 2024 if you got sick in 2023.
- Make your list. Set your mind to achieve your plans.
- It is a commitment. Don’t take it lightly.
- Make positive goals
- Habits are hard to break.
- Don’t start resolutions with “I will not”, “I will never”, or “I will stop”. They will be impossible to do.
- Set positive goals.
- Example: Not “I will never eat junk food again.” It should be: “I will eat two servings of vegetables per day” or “I will have a piece of fruit for a midday snack every day”.
- Be realistic
- Stopping all wars or getting rid of poverty are great goals.
- But they will not happen soon.
- Make goals that can be accomplished in your lifetime.
- Start small
- You can have big goals but start small with actions you can do now.
- Example: If you want to stop wars, start with small wars in your life. You can:
- Be kind to all people of various cultures.
- Learn more about diversity.
- Make peace with a friend or family member you had an argument with.
- Example: If you want to end poverty. Start by
- volunteering at charities
- helping in a soup kitchen
- A little effort goes a long way.
- Be specific
- Make your resolution specific and detailed.
- Example: Bad -“I will be healthy in 2024”. Good:
- “I will attend Zumba three times a week”
- “I will eat two serving of fruits every day”
- “I will go to yoga classes twice a week”
- Make short term goals
- Your goals do not have to take one year to accomplish.
- It takes between 21 and 66 days for a new activity to become a habit.
- Make goals that last for one to six months.
- It can make it easier for you to keep them.
- Say them
- Tell your goals to someone.
- People close to you will support you.
- They will encourage you when you feel like giving up.
- Get support
- Ask a trainer, a mentor/teacher, your husband, wife, or best friend to help you stick to your resolutions.
- Ask them to join you.
- Example: Ask your partner to jog with you.
- You will have a better chance of jogging thrice a week if your husband or wife jogs with you.
- Learning some thing new or improving your language skills is more fun when you do it with your friends.
- Reward yourself
- Enjoy your achievements.
- Rewards can help you stick to your goals.
- Example: Buy a new shirt when you lose five pounds. Get a new tie, bag or shoes after you have not smoked cigarettes for a month.
- Record your progress
- Seeing improvement can encourage you.
- Write down your progress weekly or monthly.
- Forgive yourself when you miss your goal. But never give up!
- You can do it!
Article updated November 27, 2023.
Sources: How to keep your New Year’s Resolutions, Art Markman, Time Magazine; Why your New Year’s Resolutions won’t work, and what will, William Vanderbloemen, Forbes; Top 10 reasons you don’t stick to your resolutions, Jené Luciani, Shape.
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