How To Achieve Your New Year’s Resolutions For Happiness And Success

How To Achieve Your New Year’s
Resolutions For Happiness And Success
New year, new you. A new year is like a blank journal; the perfect opportunity to reinvent
yourself and begin a fresh chapter in your life. All the mistakes of the previous 12 months
shall be forgotten and buried to give rise to the new you. And so, you create a list of all
the aspirations that will make this new life chapter a wonderful adventure. And yet, after
a few months, those new year’s resolutions are left unfinished or completely forgotten. To
achieve all your goals and experience true change, you should

set resolutions that truly resonate with your needs, and get a strong dose of motivation
and willpower.
Why do we make New Year’s resolutions?
Humanity’s need for making New Year’s resolutions is nothing new. About 4000 years
ago, the ancient Babylonians were the first civilization on record to hold celebrations.
During mid-March, when the crops were planted, Babylonians crowned a new king or
reaffirmed their loyalty to the reigning monarch. It was also a time for making promises to
the gods so as not to fall out of their divine favors.
In 46 B.C., a similar tradition took place in Rome after Julius Caesar declared January 1
as the beginning of the new year. This was in honor of Janus, the two-faced god of new
beginnings, doorways, and archers. Believing that Janus looked back into the previous
years and ahead into the future, the Romans offered sacrifices and made promises of
good behavior to the deity for the upcoming year.
A bit further in time, early Christians would spend the first day of the new year reflecting
on past mistakes and thinking about how to do better in the future. Nowadays, many
people, regardless of religious or spiritual backgrounds, make resolutions to themselves
for self-improvement and the promise of a brighter future.
We just want to be happier

For some people, New Year’s resolutions are a matter of tradition. Others are drawn to
this little ritual for the allure of starting from scratch. Most human beings have a natural
tendency towards self-improvement and New Year, although an arbitrary day, provides
us with a goal date to prepare our plans and get ourselves into the right mindset.
According to psychiatrist Glenn E. Miller, M.D., “the fact that so many people keep making
resolutions year after year, even when they do not, or cannot, always follow through on
them, indicates they have hope and a certain level of belief in their ability to facilitate
change, becoming more of who they truly want to be.” This urgency for change responds
to our inner desire of being happier; achieving the kind of life we believe we deserve.
Why New Year’s resolutions fail
Despite our pursuit of change, the detailed to-do lists, and the personal promise that this
will be the year, resolutions are usually doomed to fail. According to a survey by the
Statistic Brain Research Institute, about 91% of people don’t achieve their New Year’s
resolutions. No matter the intensity of our determination, keeping the same level of
enthusiasm and commitment throughout the next 12 months is tough work.
A few weeks into the new year, we become entangled by life’s many responsibilities and
stressors. Inevitably, we lose track or even forget about all those goals we set. This, of
course, is just a summary of the real problem. Motivation scientist and author Catherine
Pulsifer believes New Year’s resolutions fail because “they are only a statement, or what
we wish for in the coming year. There are usually no action plans, no deadlines, no

backup plans. Sometimes they are unrealistic resolutions, with no other thought or plans
besides the statement.”
As the saying goes, it’s not the horse that draws the cart, it’s the oats. It’s not the gym or
cardio sessions that will help you get in shape, it’s your motivation and the strength of
your willpower. Good motivation and willpower will help you overcome the obstacles to
achieving your goals. They will also encourage you to take all the necessary steps and
build up the discipline to make a real difference in this new life chapter.
How to achieve your New Year’s resolutions
1. Choose the right WHYS
When you decide you want to eat healthily to lose weight, that might not be the right why
— it is an incomplete statement. Think about why losing weight is a priority; how it will be
beneficial for your health, how following a balanced diet will change your life positively.
This is much more important than you think. As described by sustainable

behavior change scientist and author Michelle Segar, whys or motivators “are the reasons
for making those resolutions in the first place.” In other words, these “are the foundation
of the entire behavior change process and have a domino effect.”
Motivation, after all, is the fuel of your actions. The strength of your motivation will
eventually determine whether your resolutions are achieved, abandoned, or completely
forgotten. Of course, waiting for motivation to knock at your door is easier than actually
allowing that motivation in. After all, boredom, resignation, lack of discipline, and selfsabotage
are part of human nature and motivation’s biggest enemies.
2. Set manageable goals
The “go big or go home” mentality doesn’t apply here; it is one of the main reasons why
New Year’s resolutions are forgotten or never completed. The best thing to do is to start
small and slowly make your way up to the top so you don’t feel overwhelmed. For
example, instead of giving up desserts for good, try adding more fruit to your diet and
progressively shortening your candy supplies as the weeks go by. Breaking down your
resolutions into reasonable steps will make the tasks less intimidating.

3. Take it a week at a time
Avoid having multiple resolutions or resolutions you can’t fully commit to. While some
resolutions are quite simple — like drinking three or four glasses of water per day —
learning a new language, for example, demands more significant changes to your routine.
You might need to enroll in a course or engage with learning resources regularly;
schedule a time to practice what you learned, and assess your progress.
According to Ian Newby-Clark, Ph.D., a psychologist at the University of Guelph in
Canada, people struggle with the willpower to commit to ambitious resolutions such as
weight loss or language learning on top of simpler tasks. “It would take too much attention
and vigilance to do all that and also decide it’s time to brush your teeth for the full two
minutes and become better informed about world events,” says Newby-Clark.
So, take it a week at a time, don’t try to accomplish more than what you know you can.
This doesn’t mean you should forget your resolutions, but rather, you should remember

that you have 365 days to manage them. Sometimes, it’s okay to take a break from your
goals and resume them once you have the time or the right mindset to go on.
4. Share with the world
Don’t be shy! Be open about your resolutions with your friends and family. The American
Psychological Association recommends that you join a support group to reach your goals,
such as a workout class at your gym or a group of coworkers quitting smoking.
Having somebody else to share your challenges and successes will make the journey
much easier and less intimidating. Most importantly, you will get an extra dose of
motivation to keep going whenever you feel your willpower slacking.
5. Be patient
As the proverb goes, all good things come to he who waits. Don’t beat yourself up if you
don’t see immediate results. Positive change doesn’t take place in the blink of an eye; it

requires effort, passion, and, above all, consistency. Darya Rose, Ph.D., author of
Foodist: Using Real Food and Real Science to Lose Weight Without Dieting, advises us
to regard resolutions and new habits as an experiment rather than a judgment on your
worthiness or skills.
“I don’t beat myself up if something doesn’t stick the first time I try it,” she states. “Instead,
I ask myself: What worked? What didn’t work? And what could I do differently next time
to achieve better results? I do this until I have a clear understanding of what stops me
from doing something and what keeps me doing it, then I make sure those conditions are
met. If I can make it so an action is easy and rewarding enough to do regularly, then I
win.”
6. Track your progress
Keeping a record of your progress is one of the easiest and most effective ways to stick
to your resolutions. Research on goal-setting theory by the University of Washington
discovered that the more you monitor your performance, the more likely you are to
achieve your goals. By recording your trajectory in a journal, app, or any other method,
you will be receiving frequent feedback, which motivates you to do better.

Mike Rousell, Ph.D., nutritional consultant, and author, writes her resolutions in a daily
planner, then reviews and re-reads them every day. “Each of my resolutions is
quantifiable on a day-to-day basis, and I have direct control over my progress toward
achieving them,” she says. “For example, the common New Year’s resolution of ‘weight
loss’ is not actionable: You can’t wake up and ‘do’ weight loss, but you can wake up and
have eggs with a side of fruit.”
New Year Resolutions worth sticking to
Losing weight, following a healthy diet, saving money, learning a new language, drinking
less, mastering a new hobby, and so on. You might be familiar with those New Year’s
resolutions. Perhaps one of them has made it to your list in the past. Of course, there is
nothing wrong with those aspirations — they answer the desire to become better versions
of ourselves. The problem starts when you make resolutions because of social pressure
instead of what feels good to you. This can be every bit as harmful as an abandoned
resolution. To change, you should choose resolutions that respond to your individual

needs and encourage you to be the best you. Here is a list of alternative New Year’s
resolutions to help you take care of yourself and live a healthier and more positive life:
Prioritize your mental health
While most people will vow to exercise more and eat less, many don’t realize that physical
and mental health go hand in hand. Just like the body, our minds are susceptible to illness.
Without a healthy mind, any resolution you might have will be hard to keep.
If you have struggled with stress, anxiety, depression, or other types of mental afflictions
over the past year, this resolution should be on top of your list. A good way to start is by
scheduling a “me time” at least one hour a week, as advised by Melissa Coats, a
psychotherapist, and owner of Coats Counseling. Any activity that nurtures you will do,
whether it’s a long walk, listening to music, or having lunch with a friend.
Seeking professional support if you need an extra bit of help is nothing to be ashamed of.
Having an expert to guide you and determine the best course of action to follow will
certainly make a positive impact on your well-being.

Get good quality sleep
Sleep is the time when the body heals itself and prepares for the following day. During
sleep, our bodies conserve energy, decrease blood pressure, heart rate, breathing, and
body temperature. At the same time, our brains remain active by laying down memory,
restoring daytime mental functioning, and carrying out important processes that lead to
physical growth.
In today’s busy world, we make a habit of skimping on the recommended sleep hours
thinking that we’ll catch up sometime throughout the week. This dangerous habit leads to
sleep debt, where your performance and sleepiness both get progressively worse. Getting
enough sleep has many benefits, including protecting your physical and mental health,
quality of life, and personal safety.
This year, allow yourself plenty of resting time. If you are struggling with insomnia or poor
sleep quality, there are several methods to sleep naturally and soundly.
Destress after difficult days

A short dose of pressure won’t kill you. In fact, many people work at their best potential
when under healthy bouts of stress. But, when stress is chronic, it becomes one of the
biggest enemies for mental and physical health. Experts link high levels of stress with
insomnia, obesity, depression, heart disease, and more.
Responsibilities, work, relationships, and money are sources of everyday stress. Avoiding
all of those things is impossible. Luckily, there are plenty of ways to relax and equip
ourselves with techniques to better cope with our stress levels. According to Roberta Lee,
MD, and author of The Super Stress Solution, it’s all a matter of incorporating small,
healthy habits into our routine.
“Stress is an inevitable part of life,” she says. “Relaxation, sleep, socializing, and taking
vacations are all things we tell ourselves we deserve but don’t allow ourselves to have.”
Stay in touch with friends and family
A new year awakens the social animals in us. We feel inspired to meet new, exciting
people. Instead of solely focus on expanding your social circles, you could also make
room in your calendar to reconnect and deepen your bond with old friends and relatives.
Apart from being personally rewarding, this New Year’s resolution can improve your life
quality.
Research suggests that people with strong social ties live longer than those who don’t. A
study published in the journal of PLoS Medicine concluded that a lack of social bonds can
damage your health as much as alcoholism or smoking. Putting an effort into
strengthening your closest relationships will redirect your life into a healthier direction. In
this age of technology and communication, reaching a relative or friend is just a matter of

seconds. No matter how hard it might seem, have a little courage, and start with a brief
message or call.
Volunteer
We tend to believe that the key to happiness lies in focusing on our needs and putting
ourselves first. Although this is important to our self-care, our happiness also increases
when we help others, as suggested by certain studies. Peter Kanaris, coordinator of
public education for the New York State Psychological Association states: “Someone who
makes this sort of resolution is likely to obtain a tremendous personal benefit in the
happiness department.”
Happiness is not just a wonderful, temporary feeling but also a healthy emotion.
According to research, people with positive, joyful, and enthusiastic dispositions — what
psychologists call “positive affect” — are less likely to suffer from heart disease and
experience high levels of depression, hostility, and anxiety.

To enjoy happiness and, potentially, a healthier life, welcome the new year by
volunteering or championing for a cause you feel positive about.
Travel
The joys and memories of a fruitful vacation stay with you long after you set your luggage
aside. It is too easy to get stuck in the routine and get easily bored with our current
surroundings. This is why we need to breathe fresh air from time to time. This, in turn,
has many benefits as pointed out by Kanaris. “It makes you feel rejuvenated and
replenished,” he adds. “It gets you out of your typical scenery, and the effects are
revitalizing. It’s another form of new discovery and learning, and great for the body and
the soul.”
Nobody can afford to travel regularly. Yet, traveling doesn’t have to mean pricey flights
and luxury hotels. You can pay a short visit to a nearby city, town, or even have a walk
around a neighborhood you are not familiar with. As you do so, try to retain your sense of
wonder and be open to discovering different cultures, lifestyles, and people.
Improve your skills
This sentence sums it all. Investing your time in developing the skills, qualities, and
personal strengths you already possess is extremely rewarding. It could be that you are
gifted in drawing or dancing. Instead of ignoring those talents, you could focus on
improving and becoming much better at them. Do your research and enroll in a course,
workshop or related activity.

Meditate
Meditation is an ancient practice well known for helping you relax and enhance your
concentration prowess. In short, meditation is a skill you learn to focus attention and
awareness to achieve a healthy sense of perspective. Contrary to popular belief,
meditation is not sitting still for hours and controlling every single thought that crosses
your mind. Rather, it’s a matter of connecting with your inner self and going with the flow
of your mind.
Over the years, spiritual leaders, health experts, and scientists have studied meditation
and discovered over a hundred benefits. According to research, when you meditate
regularly, you change how your brain works; improve your health; achieve greater work
productivity, and develop a higher sense of spirituality.
What makes meditation truly wonderful is its accessibility. There are many types of
approaches to meditation — mindfulness meditation, sound meditation, love and

kindness meditation, and transcendental meditation to name a few. All of these practices
can take as little as 30 minutes of your daily schedule.
Make 2021 the year of real change
Another year has gone by. By now, you have probably already made a list of New Year’s
resolutions you have sworn to accomplish. You will try to stick to your resolutions during
the first weeks of the year. Or, you will delay them and delay them until you forget about
them. Make 2021 the year of real change and personal growth. Kickstart this new life
chapter by understanding what you truly wish and building a clear and inspirational action
plan.