Did you set any new year’s resolutions this year? We’re now several days into the year, those who set resolutions often fall into two camps:

1) Those who are still gung-ho, motivated and building new habits

2) Those who have forgotten, lost interest, decided to quit or didn’t really intend on doing said thing anyway

To help you either stay motivated or re-commit to your resolutions, you need to start at the source and ask yourself some potentially tough questions.

Why Did you Set a New Years Resolution Anyway?

This is probably a hard one. Take some time to sit down with your list of resolutions and reflect. What caused you to choose them? Are they really your goals or someone else’s? Do you really want the outcome associated with the resolution?

For example, let’s say your resolution this year is to lose 15 pounds. In theory most people would say they’d like to lose some weight, but do you really? Are you willing to put in the work to make this happen? Are you just trying to do this because you think your partner will like you more or you will look better come bikini season? If you aren’t really wanting to lose the weight or don’t have strong motivations (like health, confidence, etc.), you will not succeed in keeping your resolution.

Refine Your New Years Resolutions

Once you understand where your motivations for the resolution(s) came from, you might need to refine them to be more realistic. The best resolutions are:

Achievable – Setting a goal that you will never achieve might keep you motivated, or it’ll lead to quitting. The best goals or resolutions are ones that, with the right amount of effort, are able to be achieved.

Appropriate – Your resolution must be something that is appropriate to you, your lifestyle and your health. Don’t set out looking to run a marathon if you have a bum knee. You’ll get injured and fail. Really consider the flaws in your resolution. Maybe right now isn’t the right time to start. Consider doing a mid-year resolution or a March resolution.

Consider your list and make sure you didn’t choose too many resolutions. Start with one or two, depending on their complexity and perhaps add in more components later. Trying to do too much from the outset will lead to failure. Creating new habits takes 21 days or so, depending who you ask, and trying to create too many habits as once is just too much to focus on.

Hold Yourself Accountable

Now that you understand your resolutions and have refined them to be appropriate and achievable, you need to hold yourself accountable. Most people’s resolutions barely make it through January. Some are too hard, others don’t have the time to devote but I suspect most failures come from lack of accountability and follow-through.

Changing habits and setting personal goals is not easy. It take dedication, discipline and determination. If you’re lacking these, it’s not going to happen. You can’t just say, “my resolutions this year is to make more money,” and then keep doing what you have been doing. You have to plan. You have to act. You have to take matters into your own hands.

For those with fitness or health goals, you might start by joining a gym, finding a workout buddy, searching for a 5K run plan online, planning weekly meal charts, researching exercises, etc. These all take effort. Some take money. All take planning and commitment.

For real life changes, you have to want it. You have to put in the work. And you have to stick with it. Change does not happen overnight.

Create a Plan and Celebrate Success

First create a plan. It can be basic and simple or robust and specific, depending on your personality. Perhaps you start with weekly check-ins or a list of monthly to-do’s. If, at the end of the year, you want X to happen (weigh 15 lbs less, make 10% more, etc.), start at December and work backwards. What has to happen every day/week/month/quarter to achieve your resolution? If you want to lose 15 pounds, perhaps 1 pound per week is appropriate. That means you’ll need 15 weeks. Map out those weeks, including exercise days/times and nutrition planning. Perhaps you sit down every Sunday to plan the coming week. Put workouts in your calendar to help you do them. Perhaps you meet with a nutritionist a couple times. Each resolution will require a different plan.

And importantly, celebrate your successes. If you’re the unmotivated type (like me), consider a weekly “prize” for your efforts. If you made it to the gym three times and didn’t splurge on ice cream or dessert (for example), have one simple snack or go out to a movie. Don’t make it so grand that you set yourself back and make sure the prizes are worth it to you, but be sure to take time to acknowledge your hard work and sacrifice.

Finally, don’t be too hard on yourself. We all falter, we all fall off the wagon. The beauty is you can always recommit to your resolutions. After all, the best day to take action is today.

Now it’s your turn! Did you set resolutions and if so, how is it going? Share your resolutions in the comments and if you have strategies that work, share them for your peers to see.

{Photo Credit: Colin Tsoi}