5 Tips for New Year’s Resolution Success By Kathryn Scoblick

Forty-five percent of Americans will kick off their 2017 New Year’s resolutions January 1st. The top three New Year’s resolutions year after year are to lose weight, get healthier and be more organized. Without a plan and strategy to achieve your resolution, this is merely a statement and outcome goal that doesn’t lend itself to behavior change.
 
Creating new healthy habits take time, commitment, planning and action. To help you overcome obstacles, achieve and sustain your resolution, follow these 5 tips for New Year’s resolution success.  

1. Be kind to yourself.  Your self-talk matters. The past is unchangeable and you have each present moment to make a healthy choice that leads to a healthier future. Stick to your plan and allow for flexibility. Focus on what is working in your life and keep it positive.
2. Create a clear vision.  What do you want to feel and look like in one year? Picture yourself as you already are what that is, and write it down as if it were already happening. No more quick fixes! This time we are playing for keeps.
3. Create three-month goals.  Break down that vision into an achievable three-month marker.  Three months is short enough that you stay motivated and far enough out that you can make, see and feel progress toward your vision.
4. Set several achievable S.M.A.R.T. goals. The acronym is S-Specific, M-Measurable, A-Achievable, R-Relevant and T-Time-bound. Make goals each week that have the right amount of challenge. If you make them so easy that you have no sense of accomplishment, then you may not be motivated to continue. If you make them too challenging, then you never achieve them and that doesn’t work either. Progress will keep you engaged.
5. Allow for missteps when they come. And they will come. One setback does not blow your entire resolution. Life is not an all or nothing approach and is not about perfection. The plan and strategy to overcome missteps is to simply get back on track, focus on your motivators and what you value most, and be kind to yourself.

 
Start with what you are willing to do and take the path of least resistance. You got this! Inch by inch it’s a cinch—pun intended! Happy New Year!
 
©Kathryn Scoblick
www.healthinspires.com

Health Inspires.

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