How to Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions

I think you’ll agree that most New Year’s resolutions are broken within the first month. This can be really embarrassing, especially if you’ve bragged to all of your friends that you’re going to follow your diet, drink less coffee, or keep up to date on your homework for the entire year. To avoid this, consider some of these tips for creating a 2012 you can be proud of.
 
 
Make measurable goals. One of the hardest resolutions to keep is to be healthier in 2012. This gives you all kinds of loopholes you’ll find yourself using during January. “Sure,” you’ll say to yourself, “having a large slice of chocolate cake isn’t necessarily healthy, but I’m going to the gym later.” Or you’ll convince yourself you don’t have to go to the gym because you jogged up a couple of flights of stairs, which should definitely fulfill your “healthy” quota for the day. A better goal, using this example, would be to go to the gym a certain number of times a week. That way, you have no excuse to slack off. It’ll also make you more satisfied with your accomplishments if you can definitively check off your progress.
 
 
 Be realistic. Just because you’d like to be the kind of person who only has dessert once a week, doesn’t mean you are. It’s easy to imagine yourself completely changing your usual routine in 2012, but try to resist the urge. Be kind to yourself. If you know you have an insatiable sweet tooth, either pick a different type of resolution or think in baby steps. Remember that it’ll be better if you surprise yourself and go beyond what your resolution requires than failing altogether. There’s no rule for resolutions either.  If you want to, you can increase the difficulty of your resolution every month if necessary.
 
 
Get through the first three weeks. It’s been proven that habits are formed after 21 days. Be extra devoted to your resolution for those first three weeks and there’s a good chance you’ll be able to last the whole year and beyond.
 
 
Create a reward system. So this is kind of psych 101, but it’s important to give yourself positive reinforcement. Try and treat yourself to a little thing every day you accomplish your resolution until it becomes a habit. After that, hopefully you won’t need the reward because your resolution will have become a part of your routine. Some good rewards: a long study break curled up watching a movie with your bestie, mani-pedis, a shopping trip, an extra hour or two of guilt-free sleeping in. Try to avoid using food as a reward, as that can create another habit you’ll have to break in 2013.
 
So with all this in mind, plan some fun resolutions and get pumped for 2012!