7 Tips to Make Your 2015 New Year's Resolutions Stick

New Year’s resolutions can be a touchy topic. Some people love ’em, and some people don’t.

For example, I have one friend – Diana von Glahn – who just posted about why she LOVES making resolutions. As she puts it, “Every new something is a reason to change something horrible about myself or to strive to do something better.” For Diana, resolutions are a way to make progress in becoming the best that we can be.

However, I have another friend – Mary DeTurris Poust – who believes that resolutions do not work and that it is time for a new approach.

If you read through Diana and Mary’s posts, though, you will find that – at heart – they are both heading in the same direction. They just take different routes to get there.

And that’s okay.

The fact is that a high percentage of New Year’s resolutions don’t make it past the first week of the new year.

The statistics are scary. Here are just a few that I found at BestYearEver.me:

• 25% of people abandon their New Year’s resolutions after one week.
• The average person makes the same resolution ten separate times without success.
• 95% of people who lose weight on a diet regain it.

According to Michael Hyatt, traditional goal-setting really doesn’t work. But that doesn’t mean that we have to be stuck where we are.

I’ve been reading through some of the material in Michael Hyatt’s new course called 5 Days to Your Best Year Ever. I really like what I’m seeing, and I will share more with you in 2015. 😉

In the meantime, below are 7 tips to help make your 2015 New Year’s resolutions stick.

Note: Originally published in Our Sunday Visitor on December 26, 2012, then edited and re-published here at CatholicFoodie.com on December 29, 2013, I have now updated the list below to help you as your get ready to make your 2015 New Year’s resolutions. Hopefully, you will find this helpful.

NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS: A PERENNIAL PROBLEM

Dieting and weight loss are perennial favorites when it comes to New Year’s resolutions, in large part because they’re so hard to keep and so we end up making the same resolution year after year. Maybe 2015 will be different.

Here’s a targeted plan that might help you as we rush headlong into 2015:

1. THINK SMALL

One of the major reasons we tend to fail our resolutions is that we try to take on too much. Be realistic. Instead of resolving to lose 30 pounds, resolve to lose 10. Then reassess. Instead of resolving to gather all members of the family together for dinner every night, try for three or four nights a week. Small steps help build confidence and momentum.

2. GO SLOW

Trying to accomplish our resolutions too quickly can set us up for failure. But if we go slowly, we can make a major transformation that sticks.

You can’t go from couch potato to triathlete overnight. Start by walking in the morning or evening. After walking for a week or two (and starting to establish a new habit), you can step it up to a jog.

3. MAKE A PLAN

Why are you making a particular resolution? What’s the reason behind it? We need to think through the “why” of our resolutions if we want them to stick. We need to make a plan. We need to know the why, the what and the how.

4. WRITE IT DOWN

I can’t stress this one enough. I’m sure there’s really not any magic to writing it down. But, in my experience, and in what I have read from others, the effect of writing it down is like magic. Make a plan. Write it down. And keep it where you can see it. Often.

5. CALL FOR BACKUP

You’ve seen those intense cop TV dramas. What do officers do when there’s even a chance that something can go wrong? They call for backup. And so should we. Having an“accountability partner” for our resolutions can help us push through in times of temptation and times of discouragement.

6. BE READY TO FORGIVE

Failure happens. If we are not prepared to pick ourselves up and move on when we fall, we won’t get far with our resolutions, or in life. If we fail in our resolutions, there’s no need to throw in the towel. Let’s just pick ourselves up, forgive ourselves and try again.

7. PRAY

We can’t do anything without God. We need the grace of God to make any changes in our lives. Start and finish each day with prayer. If we do, we will be surprised at how much has changed when we look back on 2014.

If you find these tips effective in helping you to make your New Year’s resolutions stick, let me know! Leave a comment below or connect with me on Facebook and Twitter.

WHAT ARE YOUR RESOLUTIONS FOR 2015!

Are you making resolutions this New Year’s? If so, what are they? Share them with me in the comments below!