5 Popular New Year’s Resolutions and How to Keep Them

What are some of the most popular New Year’s resolutions made every year? Do we really have the fortitude to keep them and see them through?

Why do we put ourselves through the torture of resolutions when the calendar turns each year? This change from one year to the next signifies a new beginning full of hope and positivity. Most of these promises we make to ourselves are meant to provide us with a better life full of more meaning. With each new year, the hope of this change arrives. If you’ve never kept your resolutions in the past, we offer some ways you can keep some of the most popular resolutions.

1. More Exercise: How Can You Exercise More This Year?

Do you have an expired gym membership? Did you start exercising last year but couldn’t stick with it by the middle of January? Did something happen in your life that made you stop exercising? Instead of setting up a gym membership and forcing yourself to a place where others are exercising too, make your exercise more flexible and easy.

For this resolution, the goal is to be more flexible with your exercise. Take a walk, go for a hike, or do some calisthenics in your office. The point is to find time for exercise and take away the need to go to a secondary location to perform this task. You can still enjoy a gym membership for those days when you can get to the gym, and you need some time away from the office but giving yourself the flexibility to enjoy various types of exercise at different locations gives you a much better chance of keeping this New Year’s resolution.

2. Lose Weight: How Will You Reduce the Number on the Bathroom Scale?

Nearly everyone that thinks they’ve got a few extra pounds will put weight loss at the top of the list when the calendar turns to the next year. The problem with most people is they try and go too far to lose weight and end up frustrated. In this case, you need to create a SMART goal that will help you create a plan that can be sustainable and achievable over time.

What does SMART stand for when it comes to the smart goal you want to create? These five letters stand for:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Relevant
• Time-Sensitive

Using these five words, you can create a goal that leads to weight loss. It’s important to create lifestyle changes that will help you move the needle and lose the extra pounds. This can means grocery shopping with a specific list, setting small goals to lose a little weight over time, and tracking your progress. Take it slow, and don’t beat yourself up when your weight fluctuates; it does that.

3. Get Organized: How Will You Get Rid of the Clutter and Change Your Life?

Getting organized is easy, but staying organized is much more difficult. One of the most popular New Year’s resolutions is to create more organization in your life. Thankfully, there are tons of resources to help you, but many of these resources are tailored to the people that made them. It might make more sense for you to create an organizational plan that works better for you by using some of these resources.

For this resolution, the top is to recognize when you’ve fallen off the wagon so that you can get back on quickly. Thankfully, being organized is one of those things that shows itself to be troublesome when it’s gotten out of hand. Unless your home should be on the television show “Hoarders,” it shouldn’t take more than a weekend to get organized and put things where they belong. If you ever notice that you’ve gotten messy and unorganized again, it’s easy to clean up, put things away, and get back to enjoying an organized lifestyle.

4. Learn a New Skill or Hobby: How Will You Stick With It?

Often, we sign up for classes to learn a new skill when the new year arrives, but then we simply stop going. It’s almost as bad as having an expired gym membership. The problem with learning something new is that many of us set expectations at an expert level without putting in the work. You won’t paint like an artist, play like an athlete, or dance like a star without putting in the time and work.

This is certainly one of the New Year’s resolutions that makes sense to break up the big goal into smaller goals. Set the starting point with learning more about the hobby and what it might cost to enjoy it. Find out some of the most popular places to experience this hobby and how you can enjoy what it brings to your life. With each small new goal achieved, you can set another goal, and soon, you will become better and better at your new skill.

5. Save More Money/Spend Less: How Can This Goal Motivate You?

Wouldn’t you love to have a fully-funded emergency fund? Isn’t it time to begin to save for your retirement years? Saving money is important, but most of us aren’t sure how to begin doing this. It’s hard to spend less than we have in the past. One of the best ways to set this goal and make sure you achieve it is to let it motivate you throughout the year.

There’s not a more freeing feeling than knowing if your car breaks down, an emergency happens, or you need a new appliance in your home that, you have the money for these problems. Another freeing feeling is knowing your retirement fun is being funded. Neither of these can happen if you don’t begin to save money. Allow the long-term goals of saving for these things the motivating factor that pushes you forward every day. Start with a small amount and begin to save every week. Once you start to see the numbers in your accounts increase, you’ll begin to look for various ways to save because you’ve become motivated by the security your savings can provide.

Will you use any of these new Year’s resolutions this year? Are you prepared to make them successful instead of failing quickly and never starting again like most of the population? Hopefully, our advice helps you find ways to stick with your new goals to see them through the entire year.