How to Set New Years Resolutions that Actually Stick

Research shows that most people (around 60%-70%) set New Year's resolutions and quit by the third week of January.

So, how do we set resolutions that actually stick? How do we overcome the hurdles and create lasting habits that will change our lives, that will help us become the best version of ourselves? We all want to do better; we go into the New Year thinking, "I've got this," but a lot of us easily fall back into old habits, give up when we don't get immediate results, go too hard and then slowly lose interest until we quit altogether, or just forget why we started. Well, in this blog, I'm going to break down steps you can take when starting your new year to help you build healthy habits that stick, that are realistic and attainable, that will create lasting change and help you become the best, healthiest version of yourself!

"If habits don't change, you won't have a New Year... You will just have another year."

Here are 6 steps to creating your best year yet!

1. Change your mindset.

This is huge. The most important step when creating lasting change and building healthy habits is adjusting your mindset to become the person you are trying to be. If you want to be someone who lives a healthy life, eats well, works out, gets proper sleep, and makes good choices for their health, you need to believe that that is who you are. Decide right now that this is who you are. This isn't just something you are doing. This is part of your identity. Visualize yourself as this person. Act as that person would act. Would this person stay out late drinking and order a Big Mac and fries at 12 a.m. and lay around all day the next day? Or would this person have a well-balanced dinner, go to bed at a good time, and wake up to crush her workout the next morning? Be the person you are trying to become, believe it to your very core that this is who you are, and make the choices this person would make.

2. SMART goals

Most of us have heard of SMART goals. (SMART goals = Specific Measurable Achievable Relevant Time-bound) Setting SMART goals can help us to make goals that make sense and are achievable and that we can build upon. So you could say "I want to lose 20 lbs" but a SMART goal would be "I will lose 20 lbs by May 1st so that I can go into summer fitting in all my best summer clothes and feel super confident. I will do this by taking daily walks, working out 4 times a week, and eating meals that are based on protein, veggies, and whole real foods." This gives the goal meaning. What you will feel when you achieve this goal, it's attainable as 20 lbs in 4 months is totally doable if you stick to your plan, it outlines the action you will take to get there, it's measurable as you can weigh in daily/weekly to watch your progress, and it's time-bound as you have a clear and realistic date on when you want to achieve this by. So get into it when you're setting your goals, really think about it, what's your timeline? Is your goal realistic? Can you track it? What will you do to get there? And most importantly, why do you want it so bad?

3. Stack Habits

Stacking habits helps you make your life easier. Say you are trying to create a habit of working out as soon as you get up in the morning. So what can you do to make this easier? By stacking habits to make this new, bigger habit easier on you, it helps it become second nature. Keep your workout clothes for the next morning beside your bed so as soon as you get up, you can get changed and ready to go. Set your runners next to the door so you can pop them on and get going, or have your workout picked out the night before for the morning, water bottle in the fridge, and go into it with next to no thought. Or say you want to eat healthy. You can meal prep if you have the time, or you can use simple tricks like chopping fresh veggies as soon as you buy them and having them ready to go in the fridge for quick snacking to avoid grabbing something unhealthy.

4. Avoid the all or nothing mindset

Many of us are guilty of this. Going super hard and being too restrictive and eventually going out to eat and ordering something out of your diet, or having a random chocolate binge and deciding—well, fuck it, I already messed up today, I'll just eat whatever, and this continues into a weekend. Then Monday happens, and you're upset with yourself for your weekend and just give up altogether. Or life happens, and you don't have time to do your hour-long workout you had planned, so you decide to skip today, and then tomorrow you already have a super busy day, so you skip again, and next thing you know, it's been a week, you're pissed off and decide to give it up altogether. Or you're on the other end of the spectrum, and you go super hard for months, never allowing yourself breaks, treats, or rest days, and this leads to burnout, injury, and a crash. Both suck, don't do either. Find balance. Create a plan that works for you. If you're someone who rarely works out, plan to fit in 3 workouts a week. If you can add more, great! If you're someone who works out often but makes poor food choices, decide that you will eat well-balanced meals 80% of the time and plan when you will have a night out to enjoy a meal you love and fit it into your weekly calorie budget. Allow flexibility. Don't beat yourself up. Adapt—if you can't make your hour-long workout you planned, do a quick 20 minutes because then at least you did something! And that is something to be proud of, showing up for yourself even when you didn't think you could. Ate too much one day? Who cares! One day won't ruin your progress; progress is made with consistency, so if you're consistently making shitty choices, you will get shitty results. If you're consistently making good choices with the odd cheat meal, you're going to enjoy life and see the results you want!

5. Celebrate Small Wins

Give yourself the recognition you deserve. As humans, we crave recognition. We want praise and the "atta girl"—we love it! There's a reason dogs are man's best friend, and it's because we are a lot alike, lol. Dogs want the love and the 'good boys,' and humans want praise. So I believe that celebrating your little wins is huge for staying on track! This doesn't mean you see the scale dropped 5 lbs this month, so you go out for greasy pub food and beers. It means celebrate yourself in a way that serves you. Maybe you've been wanting to grab a new gym outfit—do it as a reward and feel hot as hell in that new fit! Go for a hike to some beautiful place and take a pic at the top of the mountain looking like a badass babe! Post before and afters and show off your hard work! Whatever is appealing to you, just reward yourself—and not with cake...

6. Patience

This one pains me to say as I am very impatient. I'm working on it though. We all want immediate results, we want instant gratification. Instant gratification is not always best. You're going to need to learn to trust the process. If you're doing everything as you should, you will see results. It won't happen overnight. It will happen in weeks or months of taking the action necessary to reach those goals. Stay the course, trust the process, keep going knowing that it will pay off. Even when you feel stuck, have patience and carry on because it will all be worth it. As moms, we know how fast time flies. Whether you stay on track and put in the work or give up, the time will pass at the same rate. So will you be patient and in 6 months see the results you worked for, or will you fall off track, give up, and be in the same place (or a worse place) than you are now? You decide, but being patient and trusting in yourself and creating these healthy habits will pay off in time.

I hope this helps, and I hope that you are able to create lasting change this New Year. Come back in a month, write it on your calendar, and reread this to assess where you are. If you implemented changes and are sticking with them, follow me on my Instagram @myhealthymomera so we can share our journeys!

Love,

Celeste