With the New Year comes resolutions, many of which are dropped early in the year. But why not make this year different? Prove everyone wrong and stick with your resolutions. Here are some helpful tips to achieve success in 2014.
Resolutions are often the same every year. Some popular ones are losing weight or quitting smoking. The problem is people usually use the same approach every time, but fail to realize that it doesn’t work. Try to take a different approach and change your behavior. It takes about 21 days to form a habit, so if you can stick it out for that long, you’re one step closer to your goal.
If you’re working toward a broad goal, such as “losing weight”, you won’t get far. Your goal needs to be specific with a time-frame. Setting up small and realistic goals to reach the ultimate goal may work better too. Try to set a weekly or monthly goal, and modify as needed as you go along.
Another important aspect is to track your progress. For weight loss, there are countless apps out there to help you monitor your improvement. You can also keep a journal or use a calendar to keep track. These can help identify what helps and hinders you. And seeing your successes along the way may serve as motivation for you to continue.
Outside support is helpful too. Friends and family can help you stay on track. They can praise you for doing well or they can help point out when you’re slacking. Figure out who you can trust to help you and not embarrass you and this can work to your advantage. You may even recruit someone to work toward a goal with you. Some friendly competition can add an incentive to “win”.
The most important thing to remember is that it’s okay to make mistakes, no one is perfect. Slipping up in the process is not the end of the world and does not give you the excuse to quit completely. Improving yourself is a process; if or when you slip up, it is important to look at how far you’ve come. If you were able to do it before, you can do it again.
Perspective is key – if you think positively, you will get positive results. If you have any other tips we haven’t mentioned, please share them. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook or Google+.
We would like to wish you a happy new year, may your year be filled with love, happiness & prosperity! We also wish you luck with all your new year’s resolutions – you can do it!