The new year is quickly approaching and now is the perfect time to make your New Year’s Resolutions List. Every year around this time, people like to sit down and prepare a list of important lifestyle changes they want to make. The idea is to fill your resolution list with easy, good-for-you goals. But what tends to happen is people will make drastic dream goals that they fail to stick with and never get the results they desire. I am going to review the top 5 new year’s resolutions and give you a few tips that I hope will help you stay on track.
1. Getting In Shape
Most people vow to work out more or join a gym in the new year. And it’s pretty easy to start out and you are pumped in the beginning, but somehow along the way, you fall off track. Well, my simple advice is to commit to something very doable every day. Use your everyday task and turn them in to activities to boost your heart rate. For example, when cooking in the kitchen, stop and do 10 squats every time you open a pot or the oven. Or purposely park far away from the store to allow more steps. And take high knee steps to the store while swinging your arms. Commit to 20 minutes of high intense cardio a day. If you need to break it up, complete 10 mins in the morning and 10 minutes right before bed running in place or doing jumping jacks. You can even make it fun by learning a cool dance routine to two or three of your favorites songs.
2. Start Dieting or Eating Healthier
This one in my opinion is the toughest one of all. I'm not a fan of dieting but making lifestyle changes that can be long term. The key is to eliminate 1-2 bad habits at a time from your daily routine. Going “cold turkey” is a sure fire way to fall off the wagon. But I've found that when I take it one step at a time, it is much easier to stay on the plan. For example, if I want to cut out carbs, instead of cutting them all together, for 2 weeks I ate no bread. Then the next 2 weeks, I cut out the rice, and so on and so on. Before you know it, I cut out most carbs by 3 months and lost about 6 pounds in the process. Also keep in mind that it is okay to reward yourself for reaching milestones or short term goals. Some nutritionists say that rewarding yourself occasionally is vital to not completely falling off the wagon. Rewards promote healthy behavior. This can work for the entire family!
3. Stop Procrastinating This resolution is in part the main reason we fail or never reach some of the other resolutions. The simple key to this one is to give yourself a deadline for everything! Prioritize your life. If there are some things you can put on the back burner, then do it. But keep in mind that you must not schedule yourself too thin. Always leave room for the unexpected. But most importantly, it's about changing your mindset to get it done!
4. Meet New People This is an easy one! If you want to meet new people you need to get out more. Go to new places. Try new things. You don’t even have to be an extreme extrovert. They are out there and if you’re there too, they will come to you! Stop procrastinating and plan a night out!! It’s on you how regular you make it.
5. Make More Money
Now this can be a tricky one because it depends on how you plan to go about it. Are you looking for a better job/career, looking to invent the next big thing, or just pick up something on the side to bring in a little extra cash? This resolution could be a series of short term goals that lead to a long term goal. Or you can simply have more money by spending less and budgeting better. There are tons of books on the market and classes that will show you how to create a financial plan and just spend or invest the current money that you make more wisely. This is one of the hardest resolutions because it requires total commitment to change. You can start with little steps but the real results will come with endurance and the willingness to continue to learn how to improve.
Now that you have a kick start to getting your new year’s resolutions off to a healthy start. Let’s become our best selves next year. It’s not hard, and even if you fall off, the best resolution is to have a midyear resolution to start again if at first you don’t succeed. Also, accountability is a good way to help stick with anything. So find a friend that has similar goals and you all help each other. With one tiny lifestyle tweak a day, you'll feel fantastic by month's end and psyched to make 2019 your best year yet.