How to Start Keeping Your New Year's Resolutions

If you're like me, you've spent most of your life neglecting to make New Year's Resolutions. The first time I ever made a resolution and stuck to it was in 2011, when I vowed to quit biting my fingernails. I accomplished my goal by keeping my nails painted, which deterred me from wanting to gnaw on them. My simple plan worked. As a result, I haven't bitten my nails in over a decade! It's not like this was some turning point for me, and I started making resolutions every year after that. No, I probably didn't start making resolutions again until after I was married. Usually my goals centered around weight-loss and/or saving money, with mixed success.

I've found over the last few years, though, the best way to stick to your resolutions is to break them down in to check-listable goals. It's good to think of something that you want, but it's even better to think of how you're going to get it. For example, if you want to save $5,000 over the course of a year, it's better to think of your goal this way: "I will set aside $200 from every paycheck this year." Or you could make a list of subscriptions you need to cancel or of things you need to declutter and sell. Maybe the best thing to do would be to make a list of all of the above. If you don't manage to accomplish each little item on the list, maybe you'll still have done some of them. Even if you don't manage to save the full $5,000, you be closer than you would have been otherwise.

Another tip is to set a deadline. If you want to lose 30 pounds, don't give yourself until the end of the year to do it. That kind of thinking leads to a "I'll start next week" kind of cycle. Break the goal down into realistic chunks with some grace built in. Try losing one pound a week and give yourself until the end of September. Add in the tip from the above paragraph and create a check-list or a how-to. Make a sub-goal to exercise 4-5 times a week or to keep a food journal. Even if you fall short of your goal or you don't reach your goal until October or November, you'll be doing much better than if you didn't try at all.

One more bit of advice: don't make nebulous resolutions like "I want to be more creative." Or if you do, list out specific metrics that you will use to measure that resolution. If you want to be more creative, make a goal to write at least five thousand words per month or create a new sketchbook page every week. However you like to express yourself, set your goals accordingly.

Give yourself little morsels of motivation by setting some quick and "easy" goals, too! Simple, small resolutions that don't need a breakdown, like picking a closet to clean out, will give you a sense of satisfaction and help thrust you into the next goal. Try to accomplish these smaller goals in the first few months of the year to set the tone for the rest of the year.

Here's the bottom line: break everything down into smaller to-do lists with realistic deadlines. "Resolutions" are often vague, looming concepts that cast an imposing and intimidating shadow over the year ahead. But most people enjoy the satisfaction of adding a neat little check to a box. If you don't like the word "resolution," then use the word "goal." If you struggle with setting a "goal," then just make a to-do list for the year, the month, the week, or even the day. Each little check you add to a box, even on the smallest of tasks, will add up to a more productive and fulfilling year!