Making your list of new year’s resolutions? These tips will help you reach your goals!
The holidays are here, and soon, we will be celebrating the New Year of 2023. As it is customary with the New Year, many of us will be thinking of and setting our New Year’s resolution for the year. For many of us, the New Year is symbolic for a fresh start to the year. We all want to better ourselves, and to do that, we make goals. Here are some tips to make a concrete resolution for yourself that you can attain.
1. Keep it simple.
Only pick one resolution. More than one is harder to maintain, especially if it requires more time and planning from us.
2. Be realistic.
Raising kids and being a mom is hard (though rewarding) work. Make the goal one that you will be able to work into your everyday life. If it doesn’t work for your everyday life, it will be hard to achieve. For example, if you want to exercise more, it may be unrealistic to exercise every day. 3-5 days a week may be more realistic when you are busy raising a family, especially if you are working, too. When goals are unrealistic, we can quickly feel unmotivated and not achieve them.
3. Be specific.
Don’t pick a broad goal like “lose weight” because it does not help in achieving the goal since it requires a plan. To lose weight, we need to eat better and work out. Pick a goal, such as walking several times a week or cutting back on unhealthy eating habits. These goals are stepping stones to what we would want to achieve down the road. If you achieve these small goals, it will be easier to achieve the ultimate goal you want.
4. Be creative or try something new.
It does not have to be working out or eating better. There are other self-care goals we can obtain, such as saying “no” more when our plate is already full or setting certain boundaries to have healthier relationships. It can even include serving others through volunteering or a random act of kindness each month. It can be spending quality time with your family by doing a date night each month. It can be trying a new food or eating an ethnic meal each month. Maybe you want to read more in the new year and can read a book a month. New Year’s resolutions can be a fun way to try new and creative things.
5. Write it down.
When we write things down, we tend to be more mindful of them. It makes our goal feel more set in stone and real. This can help set us up for success in achieving our goal.
6. Keep at it.
Remember, it takes about 21 days for a new activity to become a habit. If you keep working towards your goal, soon it will be part of your everyday life.
7. Give yourself grace.
Remember, no one is perfect. There will be times when we veer off the course, and we have to remember to give ourselves grace when this happens. The best we can do is get back on course and keep at it again.
8. Reward yourself.
Rewarding ourselves as we achieve steps toward our goal makes it easier to achieve the end goal. Think about what you like to do to treat yourself and do it when you make those steps towards your goal. It can be a simple reward or treat to yourself, like coffee from Starbucks or a pedicure.
Remember, your New Year’s resolution can involve changing bad habits or accomplishing a personal goal you may have. It can help you try new things and be a better version of yourself you would like to be. No matter what resolution you set, the goal is to have a positive outcome in the end. May 2023 be a year of growth and happiness for you and your family.
