January 17th is known by many as ‘Ditch Your New Year’s Resolution Day’; an annual event where many people give up on the promises they made to themselves on the first of the month.
Popular resolutions include exercising more, eating healthier, losing weight, or saving more money; but how do you make sure your pledge doesn’t fall by the wayside and becomes a positive habit that you can keep for the rest of the year?
Dr Daniel Farrelly, Principal Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Worcester, has some top tips to help you keep up all of the good work you’ve done so far.
- Make them a habit
“The key to sticking to any resolutions is to make them a habit. That will ensure that any tasks we aim to do become almost autonomous and require little planning or thought,” said Dr Farrelly.
He added: “Habits can be difficult to form, but to help with this, make sure your resolutions are realistic and that you give yourself the opportunity to stick to them easily.”
- Make them conventional
Dr Farrelly said: “It’s useful to make your resolutions ‘conventional’, so you can do them at a set time of day. For instance, go for a midmorning walk, or drink a glass of water every few hours, and that way you can set a reminder or alarm to help you.”
- Share them
Dr Farrelly said it’s a good idea to make sure the people around you know that you might be trying to implement a lifestyle change: “Let those close to you know your plans, and get them to support you, as that will help make these habits stick.”
- Remember you’re not perfect!
Dr Farrelly said: “A really important thing to remember is that none of us are perfect, and we won’t always stick to the resolutions, so don’t be too hard on yourself if you do slip up!”
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