Four Ways to Succeed in Your New Year’s Resolution (Plus a holiday bonus)

At this time of year many people make a conscious decision for change. It’s a natural point of adding--or eliminating--behavior from one’s life. A new year seems as a good a time as any for change.

Unfortunately, many times people set themselves up for failure when setting a resolution. Below are four ways that can lead to a successful New Year’s resolution.

First it is vital that the change is specific.

“I want to be more….” or “I want to do less…” is too general and not nearly as measurable as a goal needs to be in order to truly make a tangible change. For example, “I am going to exercise three days a week” is a tangible goal. Setting a resolution of “I want to exercise more” does not give any real direction.

Did you brush your teeth this morning? Of course you did. Without much thought, probably. That is because it is a habit. It’s a valuable habit and there are reasons for doing it that relate to hygiene. But twice a day brushing happens because you have made it a habit. For a successful resolution, do something that can become habit forming . For example, “I am going to exercise three days a week, on Monday,Wednesday, and Friday mornings” is a resolution that is specific and habit forming.

Setting smaller goals towards a larger objective helps one achieve their resolution.

So, instead of “exercise Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings” a step further would be to “ride 15 miles on my bicycle Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings.” Riding a bicycle for fitness leads to the larger goal of exercise.

Lastly, accountability.

Relationships and community are very important to us for many reasons. Partnering with another cyclist for accountability can be helpful to keep your goal. If you don’t have a riding partner enlist someone to check in with about your progress will help you stay on track.

And here is the bonus.

If you miss a day or a week. Or even a month, don’t give up . Be forgiving of yourself and try again. Ultimately you define success. Missing some time and starting again is better than giving up altogether.

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