We hope it’s off to a great start and you get a serving or two of black-eyed peas. We could all use a little extra luck.
However, luck has nothing to do with New Year’s resolutions.
Time and again we hear stories about promises made and promises broken (or forgotten). But frequently, it’s not that the resolution was off base, but it’s the execution that went wrong.
So, in an effort to cut down on that annual guilt, we’re happy to offer up some advice.
First, whatever you plan to change, make sure you set realistic goals. Life is hard enough as it is without trying all at once to re-arrange your life and your schedule. Also, setting ambitious or tough goals makes failure and discouragement all the easier. Instead, make bite-sized promises.
For instance, if you want to start jogging, make a point to start slow—maybe one day a week, when you can get some free time. Want to read more? Start by setting aside 10 minutes a day, every day.
Also, it may be easier to meet your goals if you can reward yourself. Jogging can be difficult, but if you allow yourself some extra Netflix time as a reward, it might be easier. That said, try to avoid giving in to your reward unless you actually earn it. Extra Netflix time won’t mean much if you binge watch a show all weekend long.
Of course, don’t beat yourself up if you make a mistake and slip up. Skipping a day of jogging (or a week of jogging) isn’t the end of the world—there is next week. If you want to change your lifestyle, first try making changes you can work into your life without additional stress.
Significant change is hard. But it doesn’t have to be impossible, unless you set an impossible task ahead of yourself. New years only come every 365 days—but a new day, and a new opportunity to change, is right around the corner.