Did you know that by January 12th, most people have already given up on their New Year's resolutions?

The beginning of a new year is commonly seen as the perfect time to start fresh, so why do we lose encouragement so quickly? The answer might be because most of us don't actually know how to stick to the resolutions we set for ourselves.

So, we are providing five essential tips that will make it a lot easier for you to accomplish your goals for 2020!

1. Choose the Right New Year's Resolutions

Our first tip might seem obvious, but the truth is that many people give up on their resolutions because they don't choose the right ones.

Take the typical "This year, I'll exercise more". Although the intention is there, choosing a goal that is so vague is going to be hard to hold yourself accountable, keep track of it & your progress, which makes it harder to achieve. 

So, what makes a good New Year's resolution? Five little letters that you might be familiar with if you work in business or marketing: S.M.A.R.T.

A SMART goal is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. So, instead of simply stating, "I'll exercise more", you could say "I'll attend pilates classes three times a week, at the XYZ school, until I'm able to run my first 5K marathon".

See the difference?

2. Tell Someone About Your Goal

We all know how easy it is to give up on a resolution when we're the only ones who know about it. After all, you won't really be disappointing anyone but yourself and... you can deal with that.

That's why stating your goal can be so helpful.

Telling a friend or family member what you want to achieve this new year will hold you accountable and will allow you to have someone who'll get you back on track when your motivation starts to run out. Plus, you can do the same for them!

3. Make a Plan

Knowing what you want to do isn't enough - you need to know how you're going to do it.

We already touched on this when we compared a SMART goal with a not-so-SMART one. It's clear that the SMART goal is a great beginning to a resolution plan.

Our suggestion, though, is that you go even further. Split a big resolution into small steps, set due dates for each and look up all the details you'll need to consider for each step.

4. Celebrate All Your Wins

Being able to celebrate even the smallest of successes will be a great help in keeping your motivation levels high up.

So, if your goal is to go fully vegan in the new year, and, after a month, you're only eating animal products twice a week, celebrate! If you want to write a book and you finish a chapter after two months, celebrate - and so on!

The point is, remember that you don't need to reach the final goal to be able to pat yourself on the back.

5. Don't Beat Yourself Up

No one's journey is perfect and chances are that you won't always do as well as you wish with your New Year's resolutions. That's alright!

Instead of beating yourself down, try to learn from the fallbacks. Why did you lose motivation? How can you prevent it from happening again? What do you need to do to get back on track?

You Got This!

If year after year, you set resolutions for yourself without actually believing you can achieve them, 2020 is the year to change that. As long as you're confident in yourself and take your goals seriously, you can do anything!

Share your New Year's resolution on social media with the hashtag #2020NEWYOU and lets make this the year that you become the best version of yourself.

If you need any help sticking to your goals, you can always send us a message for some advice!