Filed under Living on January 12th, 2009:
Top New Years Resolutions for 2009
It’s hard to avoid them when everyone around you is constantly asking, “What’s your New Years resolution?” For most people it’s the same old thing every year. They make the resolution to lose weight or quit smoking, and by February, they’re eating fast food and wasting money on cigarettes again.
Making a resolution isn’t half as difficult as keeping it. We’ve listed the top 3 New Years resolutions with tips on how to keep them:
1. Lose Weight
Making a resolution to lose weight is really broad which makes goal setting and tracking your progress practically impossible. There are several things that contribute to your weight, and each of these should be addressed as mini goals to meet your big goal of shedding pounds:
Eat Healthier – Break your progress down by the meal. For each healthy meal you eat, mark it down. Bigger numbers will make you feel like you’ve achieved more. Knowing that you’ve eaten 19 healthy meals is a lot more encouraging that thinking you’ve only been eating healthy for one week. And, don’t go on a gimmicky diet. The fastest way to fall off of the healthy eating bandwagon is to go on a crazy diet that deprives your body of vital nutrients.
Exercise More – This one is harder because you’ve got to motivate yourself to do it. Start with small goals and work your way up to more strenuous exercise. Don’t just jump in the gym and try to sprint on the elliptical for an hour. Create an exercise plan and have a buddy to keep each other accountable. Make use of that Louisville apartment gym.
2. Quit Smoking
You know it’s a waste of money, and you know that it’s unhealthy for you, but you still can’t quit. It’s an addiction. It’s going to be hard to quit. But, this can be your year. Trying cold turkey may work for some, but it’s not the easiest or most effective way. There are tons of quit smoking gimmicks and treatments out there, so you should talk to your doctor about the best way to quit. He will be able to direct you to the best how to quit smoking program or medication. This method goes for any type of unhealthy addiction.
3. Get Out of Debt
A lot of people vow to get out of debt at the beginning of every year, but some seem to slip even deeper into debt as the years go by. Just like any life change, getting out of debt isn’t going to happen over night. It’s going to take planning and patience. If you truly want to get out of debt, you have to look at your finances for what they are. Confront the total you owe, and devise a plan to pay it off. If you have to change your spending habits to devote more money to paying off your debt, then do it.
General Tips for Keeping Resolutions
- Set small achievable goals. You have to be realistic.
- Make strict deadlines for your goals.
- Have someone to hold you accountable.
- Don’t give up when you have a set back, just keep truckin.
- Track your progress in a visual way – keep a tally or calendar.
- Reward yourself when you complete a big goal. You need the motivation.
- You don’t have to wait until the New Year to start. You can change your life anytime of the year.
You have the whole year to keep your resolution. Just because you fall off of the bandwagon in February doesn’t mean you’ve lost the game. Start over and keep working towards your goal. Eventually eating right, budgeting your money, or exercising will become a habit, and you won’t have to think twice about doing it.