How to Stay on Track with Your New Year's Resolutions

How to Stay on Track with Your New Year’s Resolutions

Do you want to guess what the top three new year’s resolutions are? Well according to the January 19, 2015 episode of Dr. Oz he says the following top the list, none of which should be shocking to you.

3. Spend less and save more
2. Get organized

And number one really shouldn’t surprise you.

1. Lose weight

He also said that only 8% will keep their New Year’s Resolutions. So what can you do to stay on track with your New Year’s Resolutions? When I’ve made goals for myself, most of the principles below have helped me stay on the right road and avoid those ditches.

Get accountable. Accountability helps! Find someone you can check in with every week, or daily, or whatever you need. Telling someone sure makes it more real, and it’s out there. Try to pick someone strong enough to give you some tough love, as hard as it may be.
If it’s weight loss you are after, Dr. Oz says to take pictures of yourself. It all goes back to that accountability thing.
Keep those goals in front of you. A year ago I wrote my goals on a used 3×5 card that I kept in my purse. I actually still have it and refer to it at least every two weeks, but weekly is even better. Just that small little humble note-to-self is enough for me to keep my eye on the prize. It reminds me to strive to be the best person I can be.

When you do make a mistake (you are human, so you will), don’t tell yourself you’ve failed and allow that mentality to keep you from getting back on track again. Allow yourself a little grace (especially since God’s gives us plenty of grace~just don’t trample on it), and keep going. Sure there are going to be little blips in the road, but we want our tendencies to be upward and to the right. Especially when I feel like I have let anxiety get the best of me in one particular moment, I do what Dorothy Fields so eloquently wrote to the Jerome Kern tune, ” I pick myself up, dust myself off, and start all over again” (Diana’s Krall’s version from her When I Look in Your Eyes CD being one of my favorites:). I tell myself that was one bad moment, and I never let it ruin my entire day.
Don’t wait until January 1 to start a new resolution. Back in November 2013 I got tired of looking at a stack of books next to my bedside that was growing ever since I had kids. It was overwhelming to see every night and often is ignored. Besides the Bible and the book my ladies group was going through, I didn’t touch any books. The only time I’d read was on a road trip, a couple of times a year. So I decided to tell myself to read one page a night. I have been faithful ever since. AND my stack is, slowly but surely, going down. You see, a lot of times one page turns into two pages, and some times that even turns into an entire chapter. I didn’t need to wait until January 1 to do that. It was time.

If something isn’t working and you know it needs to change, rework your resolutions/goals so they are an achievable challenge. That means if you had some lofty goal that you’ll never actually attain like lose 50 pounds in one month, change it. Try for one pound a week or something sustainable and within your grasp.
We don’t like to be told “no”. Instead, think of all the “yeses” that are around. For instance, if you want to eat healthy, start crowding all of the processed and refined foods with good foods. This is probably worth another blog post for another time, but I’ll touch it really quickly here. When JSarr and I started eating healthy, we never did an entire sweep through our kitchen to get rid of all of the chips, boxed foods, and junk we had. We just started adding more healthy food and then those other foods weren’t so appealing. We ended up with a box of Pop Tarts for a few years that we eventually got rid of because we gradually stopped eating that way. Now if we have Pop Tarts, they are homemade and way tastier. I was watching Hungry for Change and realizing that their concept of crowding out the bad foods is exactly what we’ve done in the last 10 years. Yes, it takes some time, but this has had last effects for us.

If you want to read My 10 Non-New Year’s Resolutions from last year, those are here. I can honestly say I’ve made positive strides for every one of those goals last year except #8. This year with my husband’s help getting the kids to bed earlier, I’ve been much more successful this year. Praise the Lord!

Do you have any tips or tricks for staying on track with your New Year’s Resolutions?

Read here for some tips on getting and staying healthy and trim in the new year, and maintaining your fitness.