Disclaimer: I actually don’t believe at all in New Years Resolutions. They are HARDLY EVER followed through and by Springtime, most people failed to keep their resolutions. I’ve tried the same thing multiple times and failed. I’ve also watched numerous family members and friends also fail to maintain their New Years Resolutions throughout the year, so here’s what I learned and what it comes down to for resolutions and how to MAINTAIN them:

It’s All About Consistency

No Sh*t, I know. But, really, it’s all about staying consistent and having a strong mindset about your perception of yourself and wanting to make yourself better. I feel like everyone’s New Years Resolution, no matter how different, always comes down to the big picture: Making yourself a better version of yourself. So it’s all about your mindset, your motivation and staying consistent.

If you want to lose weight, you really have to buckle down and have a strong mindset and willpower to do so. If you want to become a morning person, you have to find some self-discipline and rearrange your schedule to do so. It’s about organizing your life in different aspects to become a better version of yourself. In the end, we’re all hoping that these “resolutions” stay consistent and become a lifestyle. No more bingeing on bad food, bad relationships, bad tv shows…No more sleeping in and wasting the day.

The KEY to CONSISTENCY and making your New Years Resolutions a LIFESTYLE:

FIRST, make sure your goals are REALISTIC. I can’t even start with the countless times I’ve heard someone say a RIDICULOUSLY challenging resolution they want to set for themselves. HERE’S REALITY: If the resolution is too challenging, it’s likely you will fail. This is because we’re all humans. So, let’s be real with ourselves for a second: we all make mistakes, we all slip a little, get a little lazy sometimes. So, don’t plan on setting an extremely challenging goal because life DOES get in the way and sometimes we need a little leeway. Set goals like “Eat less meat” if you want to be a vegetarian. Obviously going from always eating meat to never eating meat, will result in a slip up someday. So try something like eating meat once a week to carry out your “Eat Less Meat” resolution.

SECOND, it’s all about the mindset. Stay motivated and stay organized. You have to ACKNOWLEDGE you need a change and MAKE A PLAN to change. Stay motivated and goal-oriented. Set reminders for yourself, alarms, post-its around the house, anything you need to keep you reminded of your goals. Reminders and memos not only help you stay motivated, but also keep you organized and focused on your resolution.

Here’s some of my New Years Resolutions for 2018:

1. Read For Pleasure More

   1. I used to read for pleasure so much before college. Then, life got f*cking busy. My goal is to read a book for pleasure every month or two. Reading is great for the soul and much more entertaining and productive than Netflixing. Giving myself two months to finish reading a book for pleasure is a realistic time frame.

2. Become a Morning Person

   1. I am notorious for always wanting to sleep early and wake up early and NEVER DOING IT. I love when it actually happens, but it really only happens once in a blue moon. My plan to become a morning person is to really buckle down and start getting ready for bed earlier: drink some warm tea, stay away from caffeine past the afternoon and read before bed than watch TV. This is a realistic goal and I’m not setting any too strict time frames for this one.

3. Journal

   1. I love writing (if you couldn’t tell) and I used to have a diary in elementary and middle school. Blogging is as close to journaling I’ve been doing and recently, my roommate got me a Happiness Journal that has various interesting writing prompts. The prompts are small, which makes it easier to buckle down and write a quick response. Journaling is very therapeutic, great for creativity and also is a great way to destress in 2018.

4. Eat More Vegetables

   1. This one is big for me. I really don’t eat enough veggies. I love carbs: pasta and fries and different ways you can cook a potato! This year, I’m planning on substituting carb-loaded sides with veggie sides instead!

All of my goals above are not too strict and not too challenging at all. I hate saying things like “LOSE 10 POUNDS THIS YEAR”. The pressure is immense and it makes the resolutions, while still motivating, very difficult to achieve because it’s so exact and honestly scary. The truth is, we all make mistakes and need some room to indulge in our lives. It’s perfectly fine to set some resolutions that will make you a better person with time.

I hope this post helps you set some reasonable resolutions that you can easily follow through with and hopefully help you be the best you can be!

Good luck and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

xx, Bri.

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