A new year can be a fresh start and many of us take the opportunity to set some New Year’s resolutions to improve ourselves or to make a change to our lives. They can range from eating a bit healthier, to quitting smoking, to getting organised with finances, or even being a bit more environmentally friendly.
It’s not easy to keep good habits, let alone start new ones, and most people give up on their New Year’s resolutions by the 19th Jan (according to Strava) If you’ve made a New Year’s resolution and are struggling, we’ve got some tips that might help you.
Remember – good habits aren’t built overnight.
You need to stick with it. According to experts it takes anywhere from 18 to 254 days for people to form a new habit.
But don’t let this dishearten you – focus on each day.
If you find yourself feeling overwhelmed at the idea of keeping your News Year’s resolution (or new habit) for 254 days, or if you’ve run out of motivation to keep going, commit to 24 hours. It’s much easier to do something for 1 day than it is a whole week. Once you’ve completed 1 day, commit to another 24 hours and before you know it, you’ll have kept the habit for a whole week, and then a whole month.
Set achievable resolutions
One of the main reasons people struggle with keeping New Year’s resolutions is time, finding the time to do them, but don’t forget, some resolutions can be achieved quickly and don’t require you to form a new habit.
For example, if your resolution is to save money, you could set up a standing order from your bank account to a savings account. That only takes a few minutes to do and then you will automatically save some money each month.
Another example is if your resolution is to be more prepared for the future, you could look at financial protection, specifically life insurance and critical illness cover. Life insurance pays out a lump sum to your loved ones should the worst happen to you, so you can relax knowing their future is protected. You can take out a life insurance policy in 5 mins and it’s not something you need to renew, it’ll be there for the duration of the policy term, unless you want to make changes to it.
Being realistic on what you can achieve is important, if you take on too much you are setting yourself up to fail. Choose goals that you can achieve in small steps.
Don’t worry if you have a bad day
Having a bad day doesn’t mean you’ve failed or that you should give up. According to experts, slipping up once or twice doesn’t affect the habit from being formed, so give yourself a break and try again tomorrow.
Track your progress
Keeping a record of your progress can really help, it’ll show you just how far you have come. Fitness apps can do a lot of tracking for you, but if your resolution isn’t fitness-related, you could keep a journal with your progress and update it daily.
Remember your “why”
New Year’s resolutions are personal, you might be doing something for yourself, like improving your fitness, or you might be doing something for your loved ones, like organising life insurance. Remembering your reasons why can help on days when you don’t feel motivated.
Get support
One of the best ways to stick to a New Year’s resolution is to have someone there with you, either taking on the same resolution or to support you and check on your progress. Tell someone close to you what your goal is and ask them to check in with you periodically. You’ll find you don’t want to tell them you’ve given up so are more likely to keep on track.
We hope these tips have helped and good luck with your New Year’s resolutions!