It’s a new year, and there are new opportunities to achieve your goals in 2024! After the dramatic events of the past few years, most are looking to make this year more successful and bountiful than ever before. So, if that sounds like you, then know that you are not in this alone. No matter what you plan for the new year, what you hope to achieve, and what growth you wish to see by the end of 2024, there’s so much support to help you keep your eye on the prize until the next New Year’s Eve rolls around.
In this article, we share 8 tips on how to stick with your New Year’s resolutions so that you can make 2024 a screaming success.
The Importance of Setting New Year’s Resolutions
Before we delve into our top 8 tips on how to stick with your New Year’s resolutions, let’s take a moment to unpack the importance of setting New Year’s resolutions if you haven’t already. New Year’s resolutions are an opportunity to assess the previous year and make actionable plans to improve on key areas of your life moving into the New Year. These resolutions are essential goals that outline room for growth so that you can finish off the new year having achieved what you have set out to do. If you have yet to decide on your New Year’s resolutions, then it is not too late. There are many resources online for helpful ideas on where to get started with setting your resolutions (1). With your resolutions jotted down on paper or in a journal, you can begin working towards achieving them over the course of 2024.
1. Start Small
New Year’s resolutions don’t need to be comprehensive five or ten-year plans detailing every aspect of success and means to achieve success. New Year’s resolutions are, in fact, actionable goals that fall within the calendar year. The primary point of these resolutions is to create a roadmap for growth that you can evaluate at the end of the year as to make changes and improvements come the following year. For this reason, you should start small. You don’t even need to have goals for the end of the year set yet. Start by documenting minor habits or healthy practices that you wish to incorporate into your daily routine. This could involve choosing the healthiest snacks from Starbucks instead of rolling up to the McDonald’s drive-thru over the weekend. Remember to make small strides and gain momentum to make bigger and better changes throughout the year.
2. Support Your Mind and Body
Sticking to your New Year’s resolutions is easier than ever if your mind and body are in a healthy condition. It is essential that you find ways to incorporate healthy living into your daily routine if you have not included these strategies in the resolutions themselves. Brain boosting supplements are growing in popularity because of this. Neurexil™ by Approved Science® contains key ingredients that work with the body to increase concentration, sharpen focus, boost energy, and promote creative thinking. This type of supplement is perfect for those that want to stick to their New Year’s resolutions as it supports overall mental health and wellbeing, allowing you to stay more focused than ever this year. Read reviews about how Neurexil™ has helped people, here. You can also support your mind and body by practicing yoga, meditation, and other alternative healing techniques (2).
3. Track Your Progress
It is important that you spend time each week tracking your progress. Tracking your progress will allow you to clearly outline how successful or otherwise you have been with sticking to your New Year’s resolutions. It is important to remember not to be too hard on yourself, but do ensure that some level of tracking is done to determine areas for improvement and areas worthy of rewards (3).
4. Look Back to Move Forward
We have already mentioned that New Year’s resolutions intend to show improvements by the end of the year so that you can make the following year even more successful. That is why it is critical to look back on previous years and the growth over these periods to stick to your resolutions this year. Maybe you will find that you have set unrealistic expectations based on the previous year. Maybe you’ll see that you are already implementing things that you planned for your resolutions. Either way, looking back on what you have done and achieved in the past can inform better New Year’s resolutions and help you stick to them.
5. Place Planning Front and Center
The above point goes hand in hand with placing planning front and center. Planning will help you set attainable goals that drive momentum, encouraging you rather than demotivating you. A part of your planning should include ways to motivate yourself when you are working towards your resolutions. This could be as simple as watching a TED Talk every second night or chatting with a friend (4). Whatever you do, be sure to map it out in your plan and use this plan to guide your decisions.
6. Seek Support
There’s no shame in asking for help or support along the way. There are bound to be days that you feel overwhelmed and unable to accomplish the resolutions that you have set out before you. These are the days that you should turn to a loved one for support. Chat with someone who is aware of your game plan and supportive of your decisions. They will be equipped with the empathy to understand your situation and provide much-needed advice for you to overcome the obstacles in front of you (5).
7. Make Yourself Accountable
Acknowledging failure is essential to growth. Taking accountability is important as it will keep you level-headed and grounded throughout the year. Remember to go easy on yourself when it comes to difficult resolutions, but take note of your failures and understand the reasons why you were not able to achieve or stick with specific resolutions. This will give you a clearer idea of how to set more realistic goals in the future. Failing forward is vital to sticking to your New Year’s resolutions and seeing success (6).
8. Make Changes When Necessary
Based on your assessments of areas that you may have not achieved your goals or done what you set out to do, you can make changes to your resolutions to cater to changes in life and your lifestyle. New Year’s resolutions are not rigid. One should look at them with more fluidity and the ability to adapt them to suit situations that arise throughout the year. You could, for example, be unable to stick to your savings goals as an unexpected expense arose. But, on the bright side, your savings may have come in handy in such a situation as per the initial intention to save. This can reaffirm your resolutions and help you make slight changes to compensate for difficulties, helping you stick to your resolutions as they mold with you as you grow.
New Year, New You!
From starting small to setting realistic plans in motion, seeking the support of loved ones around you, taking accountability for your failures, making changes for improvement, and supporting your mind and health with supplements, you can make the most of 2024 and stick to your New Year’s resolutions better than ever before!