A new year brings on the big plans to commit yourself to a better way of life. These resolutions typically revolve around a healthier you, from quitting a bad habit, being more disciplined to losing weight, exercising and stressing less.
Oftentimes, you’ll find that many of these resolutions you plan on making have been made before. From quitting junk food to being better with money, New Year resolutions are easily broken and not followed through with a plan in hindsight to be better next year.
So how can you make sure that your New Year resolutions for 2021 will stick past Valentine’s Day, the winter blues, and Christmas 2021? By creating new and better habits.
New behaviours take time and energy to develop and do not come overnight. Here are some epic tips that will help you create long lasting good habits that will make it easier to commit to your New Year’s resolution this year.
Dream a big dream
Big goals are compelling. The desire to achieve the best helps us thrive and motivate us to reach the end goal. Whether it’s the dream to compete in a marathon, to lose 20 kilos or to finally fit into your old clothes, perseverance, support and encouragement will help you through the hard days.
Ambition inspires, and that in itself should be enough to push you forward. Keep track of your efforts and remind yourself every day that you work hard to become a better you for tomorrow.
Involve those around you as you aim to achieve your dream. Some will help in practical ways, such as doing joint training sessions with you, while others may help with other tasks to free up your time so that you can invest it into achieving your goals.
Big dreams into small steps
Big dreams need to be broken down into small, realistic steps for you to achieve them. Think tiny goals that will help you move forward, closer to your ultimate end game.
Setting prominent milestones will help you build confidence in getting closer to your goal, allowing you to tackle the more difficult tasks along the way.
It also sets the speed of accomplishing easier tasks, encouraging momentum as you move toward meeting your resolution.
Understanding your behaviour
Until you understand the reasons behind why you stick to old habits and routines, then only can you move forward away from them and progress into healthier ones.
Unhealthy behaviours such as eating too much or smoking give you immediate pleasure but will also hit hard negatively. So, when making considerable changes to your routine, you’ll need to think carefully about how to feel the reward as you would when indulging.
Your chances of success are boosted when you find that balance between plus and minus, making a new behaviour feel attractive and rewarding. You also shouldn’t go cold turkey completely, in the sense that if you enjoy taking a smoke break, you could quit the bad habit of smoking but still find a way to enjoy your break.
Commit yourself
Hold yourself accountable to your resolution by making it a real moment. Write it down or verbalise it to those around you that will root for you and who you don’t want to let down.
The more people you hold yourself accountable to, the less likely you are going to allow yourself to fail. Many people have publicised their efforts, such as creating Facebook pages to devote weight loss goals. You don’t have to make your commitment as public, but mention it to close people such as friends, family, or even your boss and workmates.
Milestone congratulations
Health improvements are often incremental, so it pays off to encourage yourself by pausing and acknowledging the successes you’ve accomplished as you tick off small and big achievements en route to your goal. A pat on the back, a movie night off, your favourite tracks every 5,000 steps reached, milestone congratulations will help you keep trooping on.
Learn from your past
Reflect on those moments where you’ve failed when attempting to accomplish similar goals, and assess what made you fail then.
Big challenges can sometimes be too big, so it may pay to scale back on a more realistic goal that will fit into your daily life and routine.
Make life easier
Achieving your health and fitness goals this New Year doesn’t have to be tough. You can always look to finding easier, healthy solutions for meals so that you can focus and put your energy into the exercise part of things.
Redearth Boutique Hotel has teamed up with F45 to bring you a range of nutritious ready made lunch and dinner meals that boast delicious flavours. Fresh, quality ingredients are in line with your fitness goals making it easier for you to leave the cooking to the professional fitness experts while you focus on the physical requirements.
Simply place an order online for these deliciously healthy ready made meals between Monday and Thursday and collect your meals from the Redearth Boutique Hotel reception by 8.30pm the following Sunday.
Banner image credit: Mental Floss
