Resolution

A new year. A new you.

Anything new makes us reflect and plan for what’s next. And a new year is a perfect time to look back on what you have achieved in the past 365 days and what you can do in the next 365.

I’m sure yesterday your social feeds were full of friends telling the digital world how great/rubbish 2018 was, how they brought in the new year and what they are going to change about themselves in the year ahead of them.

Resolutions will be made and good intentions set. But how many will achieve what they challenge themselves to do? According to research a mere 12%.

I don’t want to put a downer on everyone's new start. I think it’s so important to keep growing, reevaluating, pushing the boundaries of your comfort zone and checking in with your goals. But who says we need a new year to do that?

So here are my tips on keeping your 2019 resolutions. And the resolutions I think you should be making.

Write it down.

Putting pen to paper and writing down what you hope to achieve makes it more real. You commit to making it a reality a whole lot more, because there it is in black and white.

Remind yourself.

Stick your goal somewhere you can see it. I love a post it note on your mirror. If you see your goal on a daily basis, it will be forever in the forefront of your mind and you won’t lose focus on what you want. Remind yourself every day why you have set yourself this goal and why you would like to achieve it.

Break it up.

If your goal seems to be unreachable due to how huge it is, break it up into mini goals. It will help you get your mind around the task at hand and it won’t feel so daunting if you achieve it in tiny chunks.

Check in.

Why not set monthly instead of yearly goals? Every 1st of the month ask yourself, what have I done this month to get my closer to my yearly goal? And what can I do this month that contributes to the bigger picture?

Don’t beat yourself up!

You have a whole 365 days to get to where you want to be in 2020. And nothing is ever done overnight. So maybe you go a few weeks and you haven't done all you wanted to do. Don’t be too hard on yourself, keep pushing for what you want and you will get it.

And a few things we should all try and do this year? Be kind. Make more friends. Check in with your loved ones. Listen more. Learn a new skill (or many a new skill) and make sure you look after yourself. Your resolutions can only be reached when you are in a great place mentally, emotionally and physically and you should be the most important person to yourself.

Happy New Year!