As the new year begins, and after what has been an incredibly challenging year, many people are beginning to hold on to the hope that a new season can bring. If you’re struggling to think of where to focus your attention for the next year, this list should give you a few tips for how to finally stick to your New Year's Resolutions and change your life in 2021.
By Team Savant
Image: Isaac Smith
The time following the holidays is the perfect time to indulge in retrospection and reevaluation of certain lifestyle choices (chocolate for breakfast may not be appropriate after January 1st!) While making specific changes in your life can be done at any point in the year, month, week, day, or even hour, the New Year is the perfect time to finally start to make those changes that you promised over and over again to make.
Make a Plan
The phrase ‘fail to prepare, prepare to fail’ is a phrase often associated with taking tests or planning an event — but how often do we apply this to making radical changes in our lives?
Setting goals or resolutions often requires careful thought and preparation. It can be something as simple as starting to think more about self care. Maybe you want to finally book that skin treatment to give you that boost you need. Want to eat healthier? Get some meal plans in place and buy all of the cupboard staples you’ll need to prepare the meals.
With a plan in place, you will have to be flexible at times, but having the timeline in place helps to keep track of progress when it comes to making life changes.
Track your Progress
No matter what you resolve to do, make sure to find your own way of tracking progress. When you’re making a change in your life, tracking your progress is a great way of improving your motivation.
Whether it is keeping rocks in a jar for every pound of weight loss, or a tally chart kept showing each day without drinking, or pictures of growth. Having a visual reminder of what you have accomplished will keep the motivation going.
When reaching certain milestones, celebrate them with nice treats not related to the thing you’re trying to quit — for example, if your plan is to lose weight — your treat for losing a certain amount of weight should not be edible. A specific amount of days without smoking should not be celebrated with a cigarette.
Be Proud
It takes around 3 weeks to break a habit, but the truth is that it can take a lot longer to tackle a lifestyle change. When you finally crack it, be proud of yourself. Don’t compare your progress to others’ — yours is the only journey that matters.