With the New Year’s comes resolutions. Everyone makes them but not everyone keeps them. You are Gung-ho the moment you decide that you are going to make some changes in your life but after the first month you lose steam and end up forgetting about what you have promised yourself you will do.
The key to making a resolution and keeping it is making it simple and easy to follow. You can’t expect to run 10 miles your first day out of the gate and you shouldn’t expect your resolution to take your life in a completely new direction overnight. Start small and make modifications that you can live with on a daily basis. When making your New Year’s resolutions for 2017, keep these realistic goals in mind that you can easily add to your life without giving up on them a month later.
1. Lose 10 Pounds
Losing weight is the top resolution on everyone’s list for the New Year. You may also want to lose a few pounds but to be successful in this area, you need to make your goal realistic too. You can’t expect to lose 50 pounds in a week as it certainly didn’t take you a week to gain that much weight. Give yourself a fighting chance when it comes to weight loss for the New Year. Choose a small goal that you can easily achieve. You can always set a new goal once you reach it. This will help you from getting discouraged and will keep you on track in the next few months. Plus, think how good you will feel knowing that you accomplished your resolution in less than a year.
2. Organize Your Life
Is your life in a bit of a disarray? Now is the time to get some organization under your belt and a New Year’s resolution to get organized may be just what you need to do it. Keep it simple. There is no need to tear your house apart all in one week. Plan to do something small to get organized each week. Finally, go through that junk drawer and do that filing you have been putting off. Make a point to do a little bit each week and by the end of the year, you will have a system that is neat and organized just like you imagined.
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3. Get Active
Along with losing weight, you may want to get in shape. This should be a process that progresses over time. Don’t immediately make it your plan to go to the gym every day as you are setting yourself up for immediate failure. Start with a few times a week that fits with your schedule. If you aren’t a morning person, don’t expect that you will immediately jump out of bed at 5 a.m. each morning to do it. Stick to a schedule that will fit your lifestyle at the moment. You can always increase this as you see results and enjoy it more and more. Finding a balance that works for you is the only way you can be successful with this New Year’s resolution and be able to stick with it.
4. Find A New Job
If you are unhappy with your job, now is the time to do something about it. Be proactive and take the necessary steps to make this change in your life. Start looking at job boards and researching new areas of employment. Apply to the jobs that seem worthwhile and could be a good opportunity for you. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t get the first job you apply for as job hunting is a process and it takes time to find the right fit. You certainly don’t want to jump into another job you hate so make sure to do your homework for each employer and be sure to ask the right questions to get a good sense of their corporate culture. In order to make this resolution a reality, you have to do the work but putting yourself out there is half the battle and you never know what will come along when you begin your search.
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5. Spend More Quality Time With Family
Everyone’s lives are busy but taking time for the ones we love is important and spending more quality time with family is an achievable resolution that you can make for the New Year. Plan a fun outing once a week or set one night a week for a family dinner. Talk about each other’s day and really spend this time interacting with your family. You don’t need to make every day a family day as long as the days you do spend together are meaningful. Make the time you do have together count and this will go a long way in accomplishing this goal for 2017.
6. Operate Under A Budget
If your spending seems out of control, rein it in for 2017 by setting a budget yourself. Don’t try to totally change your lifestyle by cutting out everything that makes you happy. Plan to give yourself an allotment of money for entertainment and have an emergency fund set aside in case something crops up. Making some small changes in your daily habits can go a long way in saving that extra cash each month. Instead of eating out every day, cut it to a few times a week. You can always adjust your budget as you go along but making at least some changes will get you on track and prevent you from blowing your paycheck right after payday.
7. Spend Less Time Watching TV
This can be easily accomplished if you set some limits for yourself. Cut your TV watching by an hour each day. When you seem to have that under control, cut it by more until you reach your goal. There is no need to completely give up TV for 2017. Just get it in check and stop binge-watching into the wee hours of the morning. Making a plan to cut your TV time a little bit each week can get you to your goal in no time and won’t be such a shock that you fail to comply with your resolution. Be sure to plan some fun activities to fill your extra free time so you are not consumed with you are missing on your favorite channels. Before you know it, you won’t even miss all the time you dedicated to TV.
8. Sleep More
While we’d all like to stay curled up in bed on Monday morning, this, unfortunately, isn’t an option for most people. But, getting more sleep can happen for you if you make a plan for yourself. Make your bedtime 15 minute earlier each day until you reach your goal of an early bedtime. Starting small will allow you to modify your schedule so you can make it to bed on time each night. Fight the temptation to watch one more TV show and get yourself settled into bed early each night. The extra sleep you gain will make you feel refreshed and allow you to accomplish more each day. You will soon find yourself looking forward to bedtime as you know how great you will feel the next day.
The secret to making a realistic resolution that you can stick with is to make small changes that you can live with. There is no need to drastically alter your life to accommodate a resolution as this will most likely lead to you giving up in a short amount of time. Make a resolution that you can stick with and won’t make your life miserable by doing it. Keep it simple as you can always adjust it mid-year. Who says resolutions are only for New Year’s, life changes can happen all year long.
