5 Ways to Check Your Resolutions Are On Track to Success

New Year’s resolutions are almost as solid as a resolve to not eat chocolate – they only last until we’re tempted.  According to a report by Nielsen Analytics and Strava, a social network for athletes, most New Year’s resolutions are a thing of the past by January 12.  A study by the University of Scranton showed that only 8% of those setting resolutions were able to see them through.

Why New Year’s Resolutions Fail

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Why are resolutions so hard to keep?  There are some common reasons. First, about 55% of resolutions are health-related, with losing weight and eating healthier at the top of the list.  Those are easy to abandon, especially if the resolutions aren’t specific.

If “losing weight” is your goal, it’s easier to give up when presented with cake, ice cream, or other temptations, where setting the goal of losing 10 pounds would be easier to keep.  “Exercising more” is too vague, but setting the goal of walking three mornings a week is more concrete.

What about “saving money?”  That’s another common resolution, but again, it’s too vague.  If the goal is to save $5 a week, that’s easier to keep, especially with the use of apps that help you save money. Acorns is one such app, which helps save by rounding up your purchases to the nearest dollar, putting the cents between the price you paid and the nearest dollar into savings.

Checking In On Your Resolutions

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Restate your resolutions Divide your resolutions into smaller tasks Don’t give up Make new habits

* Stay determined

It’s never too late to make sure you’re keeping up with your resolutions, even if you’ve abandoned some or all.  Here are some tips to help make sure your resolutions are concrete, realistic, and on track.

Restate your resolutions.  Take a look back at the resolutions you made at the first of the year.  Are they specific? If not, restate them more realistically. For instance, if your goal is to “lose weight,” set the goal of losing no more than two pounds a week, which is recommended by most nutritionists as a healthy weight-loss goal.  Losing more weight each week is not sustainable for the long-term, and can actually cause more health issues than the weight loss can help. Divide your resolutions into smaller tasks.  Larger resolutions may seem overwhelming, so dividing them up into smaller actions can make them easier to follow, and more quickly accomplished.  If you’re wanting to save money for a trip at the end of the year, set a goal of saving $5 or $10 a week.  Toward that end, it would be easier to look at where you spend your money and see where you can save.

For instance, how much do you spend each week on drive-through coffee?  Giving up your morning latte might seem harsh, but if the reward is that you get to get away from the winter cold on a cruise to sunnier climates, the sacrifice would be worth it and would save you at least $15 a week.

Don’t give up.  It would be easy to give up on your resolutions if you’ve gotten through the first part of January without keeping up with your goals.  January can be a difficult time to keep to resolutions. It’s the beginning of so much, personally, work-wise, and for the family.

If you find you’ve fallen back from your goals, keep going.  Start again. Set more realistic goals and divide up your tasks. Above all, don’t give up on your resolutions.

Make new habits.  Resolutions are easier to keep if you think of them as changing habits. Bad habits are easier to form because they don’t require you to think about them as they’re taking hold of your actions.  Making new, good habits out of the old, bad habits requires effort, and being mindful. Be aware when you reach for that sweet breakfast treat and, instead, grab a piece of fruit or a healthy breakfast bar.

Get rid of the unhealthy food you have in your pantry and replace it with fresh vegetables and healthy proteins. If you find yourself absently scrolling through online shopping sites, which is how you’ve spent your time previously, grab your mind in hand and focus instead on a website that goes along with your hobby or other interests.  Read instead of shop or eat. Walk instead of sitting in front of the television.

Stay determined.  Changing habits and living a healthier life, financially, physically, and mentally, requires work.  You’re not going to keep your resolutions in any year unless you’re determined to make these changes.  To keep your determination, write down your goals. Instead of relying solely on apps or websites to keep track of your progress, physically write, using pen/pencil and paper, how you’re doing. Physically writing helps seal the goals and your progress in your mind and keeps you focused on what you’re going to accomplish. Journaling also helps you get past discouragement and promotes creativity.

Don’t get discouraged if you’re not on top of your New Year’s resolutions.  Readdress your goals, divide them up into smaller portions, and stay determined.  You’ll go much further toward a healthier, happier life, and you’ll develop new, good habits to last the rest of your life.