Keeping your resolutions – how to make goals work for you

Are you good at keeping your New Year’s resolutions? We’re now halfway through January and I know that it sometimes gets hard to keep up with those resolutions. Not to worry, I’m here to help!

A few weeks before New Year’s I was interviewed for a health and beauty magazine about how to keep those New Year’s resolutions. As a health coach, it’s one of the most frequent questions I get. How to keep your resolutions. Well, that and any other goal really.

So I thought I’d share some tips and tricks with you today. I know that New Year’s is a time for a lot of people to start over. It’s a fresh start a new year with endless possibilities. However, the truth is that you can start over any day of the week and commit to what you truly want for yourself.

Focus on what you want

Maybe you want to quit smoking, start eating more healthy or going to that gym more often. Bottom line is that if you do things because you think you should, you will never keep those New Year’s resolutions. Instead of should’s focus on your wants. What is that you want and why? If you are truly motivated by something, chances are much bigger you will see them through.

Focus on the things you want and erase negative thinking at once. You are much more likely to succeed in your endeavours if your goal is something positive. Let’s say you want to have more healthy habits. I know I do. As a food blogger, I practically live in the kitchen. When I work a lot I don’t prioritise eating regularly which then causes me to snack. And since I also have a huge weakness for chocolate I eat that when my blood sugar is low. Which is not good, because I don’t feel well when I have those blood sugar spikes. Now instead of shaming myself and feeling guilty about something I shouldn’t do. My focus is on what I do want, in this case, snacking on veggies and nuts. This keeps my blood sugar even and let’s face it my face it, people around me happy too.

Be kind to yourself

Or let’s say you want to get in shape, maybe your attention shouldn’t be that you want to lose weight. I know from experience is the case with a lot of people. Shift your focus to getting stronger arms or maybe you have always wanted to be able to do a split. Focus your attention on that. See yourself reach your goal and feel with your whole being what it feels like when you have reached your goal.

Think about it, if you do something just because you think you should do it. It doesn’t make you feel particularly good about yourself in the long run. Which will lead you to feel guilt and shame yourself for not reaching your goal? That will end up with you either quitting or just having a really bad relationship with yourself. None of which is a good place for you to reach your goals.

Set goals that work for you

You’ve heard it before I’m sure, Rome wasn’t built in one day. However, it is true. You need to look at your life and make a realistic assessment of your current situation. I truly believe that you do anything you set your mind to. But when you set your mind to something you really want. Usually, you are also motivated to see it through.

Like I’m not a gym person at all, I don’t like going there. And for the longest time I got caught up in the should hysteria of things. I bought a gym membership card, I bought a new training gear, I was going to do this. Three times a week on my lunch break. After all, I’m a strong capable woman. And I’m all that, but I’m also a woman who hates going to the gym.

You can guess what happened right? I stopped going after a few sessions and I kept feeling bad for making monthly payments for something I never took advantage off. How lazy was I? I kept making excuses, I’m tired, I don’t feel well, I have work to do, blah, blah. And let me tell you, there was no PT in the world that could have made me gone to the gym.

Now instead I meditate, I do yoga at home and I eat well. I eat well in the sense that I eat sustainably. In a way that fits my life. I don’t believe in restricting myself. Instead, I added things and food that I like. They are good for me, in a holistic way.

My point with all this I guess is this: Do what you want to do instead of what you think you should do. What works for people is very individual. Focus on the positive side of things instead of guilt-tripping yourself. Set yourself up for success by thinking about what you do want. Don’t let your focus become what you don’t want. Love yourself and most importantly, be kind to yourself.

You might like this article about learning how to say no and thus saying yes to yourself.

Also writing down your goals helps you to succeed in keeping them!