Who put the New Year’s in resolution?

The New Year has dawned upon us and so have the New Year’s resolutions for most. With over 80% of New Year’s resolutions failing by the beginning of February, the real question is, “How do I turn my New Year’s resolution into a full time lifestyle?”
It’s rather simple, take the New Year’s out of resolution.
When making a New Year’s resolution, we tend to focus on a “New year, new me” attitude. We wait for the first of January to make a firm decision to do or not do something that we did the previous year and think that taking action on the first will make ALL the difference.
The truth is, the first of January is just another day on the calendar, there’s nothing too special about the day, us humans just tend to make a big hype out of it. So, whatever your resolution is, take the New Year’s out of it and glance over these 14 tips to make your resolution more than a soon to be broken promise to yourself.

1. Brainstorm and jot down anything and everything that you want to improve/remove from your life: Exercise, eating, smoking and drinking are the common resolutions that people tend to work on but, consider options such as spending more time with family, in the outdoors, working on a hobby, being kinder to others or improving manic road rage?
2. Choose the two resolutions that “pop” out the most: These resolutions are more than likely going to be the ones that you feel you need to work on the most.
3. Systems: The structures and guidelines created to keep you working towards your goal (the resolution). If your goal is to spend more time in the outdoors, systems you can put in place would be thinking about who you could spend your time with or what types of activities you can do in the outdoors. Think about what types of outdoor areas to spend time in such as a casual stroll around the Botanical Gardens, a trip to the beach with friends, an adventurous nature walk or a quaint family picnic.
4. Set SMART goals to stay on track:
5. Specific – The specific actions that need to be carried out in order to reach your goal.
6. Measurable – Being able to measure your progress such as weight loss measured on a scale or if you are trying to stop biting your nails you would see the progress of your nails getting stronger and longer.
7. Attainable – Basically, realistic. If you usually drink 2l of coke a day and decide to stop it all at once, that is unrealistic and a person would be more likely to give up sooner than a person who cuts down to 500ml of coke a day and gradually decreases the amount.
8. Relevant/rewarding – In a nutshell, your goals need to have purpose behind them. If you have been unsatisfied with something in your life and now have a strong motivation to change, the change will be rewarding.
9. Timely – Set deadlines for criteria that needs to be met. If you are trying to cut back on coke and you drink two litres a day, a timely goal would be getting down to one litre a day in one week.
10. Ever heard of a vision board? – Whatever it is you are trying to improve in your life or remove from it, print pictures of these things and stick them in places you see on a daily basis (a technique used by many with more positive than negative outcomes)
11. Create a routine – Humans are creatures of routine, we function better with it. We feel more comfortable when we have a schedule to work with. Examples of schedules and routines would be a morning routine before you get to work or an evening routine before you go to bed as well as meal plans and exercise plans.
12. Don’t start tomorrow, start today because you should have started yesterday. 
13. Evaluate your progress – Keep a book or online journal of your progress (nowadays, there is an app for all types of progress evaluation and analysis). Look at the book weekly for 10-15 mins to see what you are happy with and what you can improve on.

Focus on the process rather than the goal – It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey.
Wishing all a prosperous 2018!