New Year Resolutions: A 4 Step Guide to Help You Achieve Yours

There is something about New Year and resolutions. Everyone makes them. And unfortunately, more often than not, everyone breaks them. But come next December and we're back to square one. Perhaps it has something to do with the perpetual need of human beings to hope. Without hope, we have nothing. We may know at the back of our mind that it is impossible to lose all our extra flab and get fit and fabulous in 10 days but we still resolve to do that.

We looked at some interesting data worldwide and realized that this is a phenomenon that crosses borders. A research done in America threw up some statistics that could very well have been representative of urban India too.


Rank Top 10 New Year’s resolutions for 2015
1          Lose Weight
2          Getting Organized
3          Spend Less, Save More
4          Enjoy Life to the Fullest
5          Staying Fit and Healthy
6          Learn Something Exciting
7          Quit Smoking
8          Help Others in Their Dreams
9          Fall in Love
10           Spend More Time with Family


Getting fit, losing weight and spending more time with loved ones seems to be something we aim to do each year, before we get pulled into the whirlwind of our daily routine. Not surprisingly, the number of people who actually achieved their resolutions was only 8% whereas 24% are never able to successfully achieve what they resolved to on 1st January. (Source: University of Scranton. Journal of Clinical Psychology). Everyone seems to want to live a healthier life. Be fitter and stronger. Yet, the toil required for the end result doesn't have many takers. A short term fad diet or a couple of Surya Namaskars are not going to help you achieve your health goals. It takes more than that. It is a mind-set change, a complete overhaul of the way you think and your habits.Regardless of what your resolutions are, here are some tips which may help ensure you achieve them, and not give up mid-way:
 1. Keep them simpleOf course if you wish for world peace, it is not going to happen overnight. Neither is a resolution to change your entire lifestyle overnight. Keep your resolutions simple. Don't create a bucket list of resolutions, just decide on one or two.
 2. Keep them achievableLosing 10kg in 2 weeks may sound like a great idea but it is impractical, unachievable and just pure unhealthy. Keep your resolutions such that you know how to achieve them. Small steps are required to head off on a life-changing journey.


3. Make them easy to measureA tangible resolution will be easier to follow. Something vague like "I want to be happy this year" is not a good idea as you may not know what is your achievement percentage and thus will lead to discontentment. Give yourself a target. A target weight, a target clothes size, or something like I want to spend one hour with my child every evening without any distractions. These are tangible goals.


4. Break it downThe resolution may seem daunting by itself but if you break it down, it suddenly will seem easier to achieve. Write down what steps you need to take daily or weekly to achieve this. Tick off the steps as you progress as a form of self-motivation.  Whatever be your New Year Resolution, if you follow these steps and exercise your will power, there are great chances that you will achieve it. If not, well, there's always next year.

#Source NDTV