How to make New Year’s resolutions?

Tips on how to make New Year's resolutions so that you can keep them.

Arriving at the first days of January with New Year's resolutions has become a kind of widespread ritual in Western societies. However, from intention to action is a big leap and not everyone knows how to deal with it.

In fact, New Year's resolutions have very little validity if we merely wish to reach those goals and do not think them through.. Unfortunately, many people confuse the simple fact of thinking about what they would like to achieve with the fact of taking the necessary steps to reach those goals.

The belief that "visualizing" what we desire makes these experiences "come" to us as if a universal law were in charge of attracting facts to intentions is as popular as it is sterile and ineffective. In reality, missing out on New Year's resolutions is the norm..

But this doesn't mean that most people are predestined to fail in their attempts to improve aspects of their personal lives or career paths; it simply takes resources to take advantage of the motivational "push" that comes with the start of a new year.

What to do when making New Year's resolutions?

Below I will give you several psychological tips to properly manage New Year's resolutions, dividing them into two blocks.

The first of them, which corresponds to this section, is dedicated to the initial the initial moment in which you set your resolutions for the new year.The second is oriented to the monitoring and fulfillment of these resolutions in the first weeks of January and February, the key moment in which these changes in habits and routines can be consolidated or not (after all, starting is the most complicated thing to do).

That said, let's look at the strategies and guidelines to follow to outline New Year's resolutions.

1. Goals should be achievable

The idea that goals should always be more ambitious than the actual outcome you want to achieve is totally counterproductive: it only makes people frustrated They only make people frustrated when they realize that they don't have the capacity to reach those goals.

When considering what you want to achieve, you should take stock of what you would like to achieve and the skills and resources you have, so that it will be easier for you to make a real commitment to that project..

2. Goals must fit with your values

If what you set out to do is not consistent with your values the values that constitute your ethical scaleIf what you set out to do is not consistent with the values that constitute your ethical scale, chances are that you will soon become demotivated or even be unable to enjoy your progress.

3. You must establish evaluation criteria easy to measure

You should not remain in the abstract ideas about what you want to achieve.. Reaching a good level of concreteness and detail will allow you to be able to evaluate your progress and correct mistakes on the fly and, on the other hand, to feel good to see that you are making progress.

4. The set of New Year's resolutions must be coherent

Finally, keep in mind that if you simply set New Year's resolutions without looking at them as a whole, it is possible that some may hinder the progress of others. Make sure they all "fit" together in terms of both time and resources needed to achieve your goals..

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What to do to put New Year's resolutions into practice

Once the new year has begun, follow these tips to make it easier to implement them.

1. Set clear schedules

If you plan your schedules taking into account also the moments of rest and the hours dedicated to sleep, you will not be so exposed to the stress of the new year, you will not be so exposed to the temptation to procrastinate and not start doing what you had set out to do.. If possible, print the schedule on paper and hang it on the fridge or in another place in the house that you see often.

2. Tell your friends and family about your New Year's resolutions.

If you explain to them that you have started a new habit, project or lifestyle, the fact that they know about it and ask you about it from time to time will be an element of motivation that will add to the desire you already have to achieve your goal. will be an element of motivation that will add to the desire you already have to achieve your goal..

3. Link a space and a moment to your new routines.

For example, visualize the fact that after brushing your teeth in the evening you will leave the bathroom and sit down at your desk to memorize a page of vocabulary in a language you are studying. In this way, every day you will automatically think of what to do in each situation..

• Related article, "How to generate new healthy habits?"

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