Here we are once again about to step into a new calendar year, and we all know what that means, New Year’s Resolutions! And, let me be the first to say the quiet part out loud: “This, again?

What is even the point when I often don’t follow through on my resolution(s)”. This time of year, with its short, cold days with low light can make it hard to even roll out of bed, let alone come up with new ideas, projects and find the energy to put them into action.

If despite all that you are in the game of New Year’s Resolutions, and I often fall prey to the pressure there is research to help provide strategies to make sure we come out on top. and first and for most, winter be damned, new starts like the one falling into a New Year provides ARE a wonderful tool for creating new habits! To help us put our resolutions into practice I am relaying some tips from Behavioral Scientist Katy Milkman to help us create change and move us towards our intentions and goals:

1.Take advantage of a fresh start…

     No matter how small, fresh starts signify the end of one chapter and beginning of another and they give us the feeling that we have a clean slate, that we can leave the past in the past and find a sense of freedom as we look ahead to the new. When it comes to fresh starts, it is not just the big one of Jan 1st that works to the benefit of resolutions. So, just because week one you didn’t do as much as you would have wanted or hoped, take advantage of the next new start, be it the next day, week, month or even your birthday as a way to re-energize your commitment to your goal.
This feeds nicely into the next suggestion.

2. Be Consistent AND Flexible.

     Make sure you build in some grace into your routine. What does that mean in practice?

• Make a plan, set a time, day of the week and a place that you will dedicate to your resolution (e.g. go to the gym, got for a walk), and
• Make allowances for when “life happens”. You may plan to go to the gym every Monday morning at 9, but there will inevitably be that week where you are sick, or travelling, or whatever. So have an alternative time should your preferred time not work out. Know what you will do in the event that your plan does not materialize

3. Be Accountable.

     You may do this by in a few ways:

• find an accountability partner, or
• do it with a friend. In the years I went running, I went with a friend and inevitably the morning I would have rolled over and kept on sleeping my friend would call me to say she was already on her way to the park, and vice-versa. If on my own I would have stayed in bed more often then I care to admit, especially on the cold, rainy, winter, London morning because shame (…and on the flip side acknowledgement) is a powerful motivator, by sticking to my commitment to my friend I was able to stick with the one I had made to myself. Letting someone else down, or loosing face was not something is not something any of us do lightly.
• set yourself a penalty. choose a sum to donate to a cause you despise, or a dare you will have to perform if you do not move towards your resolution…and your accountability partner can make sure you stay true to your word and follow through on your penalty.

4.Reward yourself.

     The flip side of accountability is that you give yourself a present for continuing to work on your resolutions. Think of how you might treat yourself, what gift you might get for yourself? Make it fun, make it special and make it something that will help propel you through the procrastination in those moments when your motivation is waning.
and, finally,

4.Make it fun.

      When we set a goal for ourselves, we tend to think about what is most efficient when research instead suggests we should be going for what we enjoy. If you are trying to build a routine pick something you love that will achieve the same goal. It may take longer to reach your goal, but the advantage is you will stick with it. Think of it this way, if you pick the fastest, toughest way up the mountain, you may give up before you get there. If you pick a route that has a slow incline, allows you to enjoy the scenery and I assure you the probability of you getting to your destination will be greatly improved. Better still, choose a route that has a delicious restaurant on arrival and do it with a friend and you will have made it fun, have built in an accountability partner, and a reward!

Whatever you decide to do, or not do, know that you are perfect just the way you are.

I hope this 2024 will be good to you and that you are able to embrace “what is” with contentment and gratitude.