How To Stick To Your New Year's Resolutions + Fun Resolution Ideas

Oprah, the wisest women on daytime television, once said, “cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.” And while these may be inspirational words to women across the country, the daytime talk queen forgot to mention one minor detail: getting it right is only half the battle.  

Setting resolutions is one thing, but following through on them is another. In the Psychology Today article, “New Year's Resolutions: Why They Don't Stick,” it is reported that only 10% of people stick with their New Year’s resolutions. The battle to actually fulfill your New Year’s resolutions, whether they are big or small, is a 12-month war with procrastination, motivation, and reality.

So in efforts to help you get it right in 2012 and stick to your New Year’s resolutions, Her Campus™ has put together a list of helpful hints on how to make a resolution list and follow through all the way from when the ball drops until 2013 is here.

How to follow through on your resolutions

Make your resolutions stick – literally

This wall of post-it notes might look like a fun project, but actually it is the perfect way to keep track of your New Year’s resolutions in a very visual way. Psychology Today reports that people who wrote down their goals achieved them 97% more often than those who did not. Not only is this visual tool effective, but it is also easy to do.

1. Write down every resolution you make on individual post-it notes.
2. Post each note on prime real estate, aka a wall or space you look at every day (suggestions: next to a bathroom mirror, near your fridge, on the door to your closet).
3. Make a pattern or a big ‘blob’ – it doesn’t matter, just make sure all your resolutions are together.

If you use this system you are guaranteed to remember your resolutions, and in your busy collegiette™ life isn’t that half the battle? The Post-it company follows the motto “keep it simple.” This system, like the sticky notes themselves, keeps your resolutions organized and easy to manage. The collage will be a daily reminder of the goals you have made and will create a visual representation of them that is easy to remember (and hard to ignore). This is a fun, cute, decorative way to remind yourself just how important your goals are.