Give Your New Year’s Resolution a Jump Start

Originally published on the I Earned It Blog.

It’s New Year’s Resolution Recommitment Day!

Can you believe we’re already halfway through the year? Blink 182 really hit the nail on the head! It seemed so long ago when we made our New Year’s Resolutions. So don’t feel bad if you’ve lost momentum on that resolution; you’re not alone!

Most of us don’t make it to June with our New Year’s Resolutions. In fact, a study in Science Direct revealed: 77% of people maintain their resolution for one week, 55% of people for one month, 43% of people for three months, 40% of people for six months and 19% of people for two years. But if you’re looking to jump-start that resolution, you’re lucky because June 1 marks the unofficial New Year’s Resolution Recommitment Day!

Before we jump into restarting, certain factors lead to successfully achieving a goal. For example, a study in PLOS One suggests that “Approach-oriented goals are more successful than avoidance-oriented goals.” That’s to say, if you have an actionable goal, you are more likely to succeed than with a goal focused on avoiding a habit. So, if you’re ready to achieve your New Year’s Resolution, there’s still hope.

Here’s how to get back on track:

1. Make your goal actionable. If your resolution was to avoid drinking or something similar, and you’ve fallen off the wagon, don’t feel bad; it’s just how your goal was set up. Instead of avoiding something, make your goal actionable by creating a goal to swap what you want to stop for something better. For example, aim to swap an alcoholic drink for a soda, water, coffee or another nonalcoholic drink.
2. Give yourself reminders. Setting reminders helps you achieve your goals by keeping them on top of your mind and increasing your accountability. Reminders also help us break down larger goals into smaller, more manageable tasks, making them easier to accomplish. Reminders can also be a great way to turn your actions into habits.
3. Create milestones. Create realistic milestones to help you know you’re moving in the right direction. For example, if your goal is to lose 15 pounds by the end of the year, create milestones for a certain amount of weight lost, such as at every 2.5 lbs lost. 
4. Track your progress. Tracking progress helps us to stay accountable, monitor our progress, identify potential obstacles, and adjust our strategies to ensure that we are making steady progress toward our goals. It can also provide a sense of accomplishment and motivation as we see how far we have come.
5. Reward yourself. Rewarding your progress helps you achieve your goal by providing motivation to continue working towards it. When you receive a reward for making progress, it reinforces positive behavior and encourages you to keep going. It can also help you maintain a positive attitude and boost your confidence, which can be especially helpful when trying to achieve a challenging goal.

Help yourself achieve your resolution by making your goal actionable, giving yourself reminders, creating milestones, tracking your progress and rewarding yourself.