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5 Tips For Supporting Your New Year’s Resolutions

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Some of the most common New Year’s Resolutions are weight loss, exercise goals, quitting an unhealthy habit like drinking alcohol or smoking, improving mental health, or taking up a new hobby. The hardest part about New Year’s Resolutions is that they often don’t stick.


One study compared a group of individuals who decided to make a New Year’s Resolution and those who didn’t but said they would make the change later in the year and found that those with a resolution had a 46% success rate compared to those who were interested in changing their behaviour after new year’s. Behaviours associated with positive outcomes for those with a New Year’s Resolution were self-efficacy, having the skills to change and readiness for change. The following are some behaviour change tips to help you track your New Year’s Resolution.


1. Create SMART goals and stay accountable.


SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely.


SMART goals are used in business and many other areas because they work! You need to ensure that if you are losing weight, your goal is realistic and attainable so that you are not setting yourself up for failure. All tasks and behaviours can be adapted to fit into the SMART goal model to help you stay accountable.


2. Create a routine and stick to it, including meal prep or exercise.


The key to any change is to create a new routine. It takes 21 days to create a new habit.


This new routine may include getting up half an hour early to go for a walk. The key to fitting in exercise is doing it whenever it works best for you and making it part of your routine.


Meal prepping is also a good way to support any dietary changes you make; this may include one day over the weekend to prep the meals for the coming week. Meal prepping may consist of cooking and freezing some meals so you have that extra time to fit your exercise during the week.


3. Create a vision board.


A vision board is a great way to represent what you are trying to achieve. These can include photos of you in your favourite dress you fit into two years ago or inspiring words and pictures from magazines. You can also put on it hobbies you want to get into or holiday destinations you would like to visit. You can also stick your schedule there to remind you of your new routine.



4. Get your community to help you.


Phone a friend to see if you can get them on board with your new routine or partner. Exercise with friends so it is more fun and doesn’t feel like a chore. Or, if you have decided to do a post-Christmas and New Year’s detox, get your partner on board to do it with you. It is always easier to have some support to help keep you going.


5. Track your progress


Make sure you track your progress; this can include ticking off that you have gone for your walk every day or tracking your steps to meet your daily quota. Filling in a diet diary and recording your weight can also help. Writing down your diet is a good way to track your dietary changes. You may be able to associate different patterns of eating that are more beneficial to your goals or enlist a health professional to help you.


Norcross JC, Mrykalo MS, Blagys MD. Auld lang syne: success predictors, change processes, and self-reported outcomes of New Year’s resolvers and nonresolvers. J Clin Psychol. 2002 Apr;58(4):397-405. doi: 10.1002/jclp.1151.

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