Making and Keeping New Year's Resolutions
by Avantix Learning Team | Updated January 2, 2020
The new year prompts many people to set new year's resolutions to help make positive changes in their personal and professional lives. It's a good time for a fresh start. However, keeping those resolutions is not so simple. The following are 10 popular resolutions that show up year after year on many lists:
- Eat healthier
- Exercise more
- Lose weight
- Make or save more money (and spend less money)
- Spend more time with family and friends
- Learn a new skill
- Get a new job
- Be more productive or organized
- Drink less alcohol and/or quit smoking
- Be happier
Although you can make resolutions, it's not so easy to keep them. According to University of Scranton psychology professor John C. Norcross, who has studied resolutions for more than 20 years, if you think you can't do something, you'll probably prove yourself right. According to Norcross, about 40% of people he's studied set resolutions at the beginning of January, but only 40% to 44% of them will be successful after six months. More than 50%s of those who make resolutions will not achieve them.
So here are 10 tips to help you try to keep your resolutions:
- Set resolutions that are based on your needs and not others.
- Make sure your resolutions are specific, measurable, realistic and achievable.
- Write down your resolutions and look at them often.
- Pick the most important resolution and focus on that first.
- Break a resolution down into small chunks or tasks and make gradual changes.
- Schedule tasks or activities related to your resolution on a calendar or app.
- Get help from others.
- Stay positive.
- Forgive yourself when you have setbacks (but don't quit).
- Set milestone dates for your resolutions.
It is hard to make changes in your life, but it's definitely a good start to set resolutions or goals and then make a plan to try to keep them.
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