Thursday, December 28, 2017

The Must Try Tip for Sticking to your New Year's Resolution

In these few days between Christmas and New Year's Day many people start thinking about their New Year's Resolutions. Once you have your mind set on a resolution it can be hard to not jump in full force, but like most people, this leads to giving up by the 15th...if not earlier!

The Best Tip for Sticking to your New Year's Resolution

Start Small. If you can break your resolution into smaller steps over an extended period of time it will be easier to create lasting habits that you can stick with.  Below are some examples of how to slowly progress into some popular resolutions so you don't get burned out too quickly.  


#1. Eat Healthier:
It may be tempting to jump all in and try to eat only kale and carrots while working out an hour a day starting January 1st but it is very unlikely you will be able to stick with a big lifestyle change all at once.  If you break it down into smaller tasks to complete each month you can create small habits that are easy to keep. 
Small Start Tip: Start making over one meal a month.  Try for the month of January to just eat a healthier breakfast.  Start with 3-4 easy to make options that you like and can rotate easily.  Trying to make a different new recipe every single day for the first month will make you feel overwhelmed and lead to much more grocery waste or more expensive grocery bills.  
Some of my favorite easy quick breakfasts are Chocolate Peanut Butter Overnight Oats, Spinach Chicken Sausage and Egg Wrap, and Veggie Frittata muffins.  
After this becomes second nature try adding lunch to the mix.  Once the first 3 months are up and you are eating healthier in general you can try making over specialty meals like your go-to party appetizer or dessert, or try adding in 10 minutes of exercise a day and add a few minutes in the same manner until it is a daily routine you are used to.  

#2. Take Better Care of Yourself (especially for all you Mamas out there):
Every few months I say I am going to try take better care of my skin, but then I get tired, get the kids to bed too late and end up flopping myself into bed with the last bit of energy I have. 
Small Start Tip: To make this resolution more doable try adding this to your existing daily routines.  If you're not great at washing your face at night try doing it while you're already in the bathroom filling up the kids bathwater.  If you want to do a face mask more regularly try putting one on while you plan to clean the bathroom or vacuum.  

#3. Promote a Business:
With so many opinions out there on social media marketing and how to grow you business as quickly as possible it can feel overwhelming when you think about having to post on multiple social media outlets daily while running a full time business. 
Small Start Tip: My best tip here is to master one social media platform at a time. Instead of spreading yourself thin and posting mediocre content on all platforms focus on one first and deliver knockout content that will work for you to expand your business.  Once you feel like your posts are gaining traction on the one platform you started with and are able to circulate due to popularity you can move on to the next platform and give it a whirl.  Once you have spent some time with each platform individually it will be much easier for you to create posts quickly and get your posts in front of more people.  

#4 Spend more Quality time with your Family:
So many of us these days are all consumed with media, constantly checking phones, social media, email, all while having the TV on in the background and it can feel like even if you are with your family you aren't necessarily present. 
Small Start Tip: Start small by scheduling an hour a week where you unplug from media and devote that time entirely to your family.  Make it an appointment on your calendar that you treat like a doctor's appointment.  If you decide to cancel, you pay a cancellation fee to a family fun fund.  After a few weeks add in another night a week, and so on and so on, until this is part of your nightly routine with your loved ones that everyone expects and looks forward to.  

I hope these slow start tips to some popular New Year's Resolutions help you break down a big lifestyle change into doable simple tasks you can stick with for life.  What Resolution are you making this year?

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