How to stick to your New Year’s Resolutions
We’ve all made countless new year’s resolutions over the years that we somehow never quite managed to follow-through on. This January, we decided we’d have a little think about what goals we specifically want to achieve this year and what top tips have helped us stick to our resolutions in the past.
- Specific & Measurable- We find that avoiding ‘wishy-washy’ goals like “get fit” or “be more productive” makes it a lot easier to stick to a goal. You know exactly what you’re working towards, how to create smaller steps to get there, and when your goal has been achieved and it’s time to set a new one. Also, making specific goals with specific steps means we can celebrate the wins along the way!... and we all love an excuse to celebrate!😉
- Checklist- Similarly, writing out a checklist for the day or the week helps us divide our goals into manageable chunks as well as giving us the satisfaction of ticking off each task as we complete them.
- Pre-commitment- Interestingly, studies suggest that people who appear to be better at resisting temptation do not simply have more willpower, but rather avoid situations where they may be tempted. For example, not buying any unhealthy foods in the supermarket, so that they’re not later tempted to snack on them at home. Another tool to avoid temptation is pre-commitment. If you’re goal is to get more steps in, you could arrange to meet a friend for a walk. That way you’re less likely to bail when it comes down to it because you’ve told your friend you’ll be there.
- Make it social- Another way to keep the social aspect and help hold yourself accountable, is to involve your friends who have similar goals. We’ve used the app ‘Social Steps’, where you can compete with your friends to see who gets the most steps and help motivate each other to keep going. Alternatively, if you’re looking to eat less take-out and processed foods, you could arrange with a friend to cook one tasty recipe each, cook double the amount, and swap half and half… that way you have two different dishes with half the effort!😋
- Set yourself up- If you want to start your day with yoga, lay your clothes and mat out the night before, so you can fall out of bed and onto the yoga mat. If you want to make a smoothie each morning, check your ingredients and get out your Nutribullet/Vitamix before you go to bed so you know exactly what you’re going to make the next day… no extra effort or decision-making required.
- Avoid past mistakes- Finally, if you’ve been setting the same goal a few years running, stop for a moment to figure out what’s been stopping you succeed. If you need to make a change such as getting your friends involved, then do it.
We would love to hear what exciting resolutions you all have in store this year! Let us know on social media (@supernature_snacks) if you give any of these tips a try or if you have any other advice that has worked for you!