Making Your New Year’s Resolutions Stick

Resolutions can be a powerful way to create a clearer path for the New Year, but because we typically don’t take them seriously, we find ourselves repeating the very same patterns we talked about changing in the first place. We all do it (there is a reason why January-March is the busiest time of year for health clubs). The trick to sticking to resolutions is to establish authentic intention that causes a shift in thinking and enables us to implement new habits. Here’s how.

Reflect on the Previous Year

Reflection helps us determine the good, the bad and the ugly, allowing us to reaffirm what we want to keep in our lives, weed out the negative or toxic parts, take the lessons learned and move forward.

Pick Your Top 10 Priorities

Start big and brainstorm – throw it all out there – then whittle it down to the 10 things you really want to focus on. Be realistic and specific. Analyze your intentions behind why you are choosing those 10 goals.

Create a Plan

Visualize the path you’ll need to take to achieve your goals and write it down. This can come in the form of a list or even a vision board. Putting ideas into a physical format that you can see, often helps reaffirm your intentions.

Form New Habits

It takes 21 days to form a new habit, so be patient with yourself and take small steps. Pick one thing from your list to focus on and stick with it. Your success in forming this one habit will fuel your goals for the rest of the year.