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Mid-January has come, and we already may be losing a grip on our New Year’s Resolutions. To mitigate this abandonment, we have to rethink resolutions. In reality, a promise you make to yourself before the conception of the new year is nothing but a goal. Luckily, there are tried and true methods that help us to choose and stick to goals, regardless of the form they take.
Staying realistic is the first step in achieving your goals. This doesn’t mean you can’t work towards something impressive, but often New Year’s Resolutions are effective not because of the nature of the actual achievement but simply because a goal was set and completed. Take getting in shape, for example. Instead of attempting to lose weight, make your resolution something more manageable like “go to the gym 4 days a week”. By breaking up the larger task, it becomes far more realistic. With this in mind, it’s best to start small and complete increasingly daunting goals. Each success will affirm confidence in yourself and prepare you to tackle something bigger.
When a dog owner teaches their pup to sit, they give it a treat after it successfully completes a task. Obviously we aren’t canines, but the principle of positive reinforcement remains the same. When you achieve a goal, a part of a goal, or anything at all that you think merits some reward, don’t hesitate to give it to yourself. Attend the gym four days a week for a month? Treat yourself to a spa day (this can be as simple as a warm bath and face-mask at home). Just remember to ensure that your self-reward does not contradict your resolution. For example, it would be counterintuitive to let yourself eat a gallon of ice cream after eating well for a week.