5 Ways To Save Your New Years Goals

If you’ve already fallen off the wagon with your New Years' goals after the holiday season, you're not alone. Research has shown that about 30% of people give up on their goals before they even reach the two-week mark.

What's worse? By the second week of February, 80% of us will fail at our New Years' Resolution.

But this year is different. Don't let a small setback derail you, here are 5 science-backed ways to restart your goals and succeed in 2023.

Give yourself a reality check

Look, it takes more than a good-intentioned promise to yourself on December 31st to truly make a change. Changing your behaviour doesn't happen overnight, so cut yourself some slack when you have slip-ups.

You're going to fail - more than once - but failing isn't the same as giving up. If your resolution is to not eat fast food and you cave and get it one night home from work, learn from this. Recognise the situation in which you gave in, and learn how to overcome this in the future.

Don't expect perfection with your resolution, but think of each time you stick to it as a small step toward your goal.

Find a buddy

One of the best ways to stick to your NY resolution is being held accountable by friends and family. When you tell people about what you’re trying to achieve, you increase your chances of achieving it by up to 60%.

If you want to up the ante, organize with a mate or family member to do a weekly checkup covering your progress!

Change your environment

You are a product of your environment. Whether that's the people you surround yourself with or the place you are in, chances are your resolution lapse is triggered by something.

An environment that promotes healthy decisions means you’re much less likely to fail. If your friends eat fast food a lot, maybe miss dinner with them and opt for other activities instead. If your house is full of junk, you need to get rid of it because out of sight means out of mind.

Never be afraid to put yourself and your health first, you owe it to yourself to have a healthy environment.

Keep Your Vision in Front of You

Now I don't know about you, but I'm pretty forgetful at the best of times, my yearly scramble to get birthday presents the day before is a good example of that. And my resolution is a good example of that. No matter how hard I try, things come up and with a busy lifestyle I can forget to prioritise my resolution and keep working at it.

To solve this, I write it down and put it wherever I will see it most. If it's about eating healthy and not snacking on junk, I'll stick it to the door of the fridge. Make it the screensaver to your phone.

Daily reminders of your goals keep you on track, so find a way to keep it at the front of your mind.

Restart at the right time

Research suggests that starting a behaviour change on a day that holds psychological significance may improve your chances of success. Whether it's the first day of a month or a birthday, it helps you keep motivated.

Luckily for you, the holiday period has now ended, a new month is just around the corner and there is nothing holding you back, so don’t resort to procrastination and more excuses!