It’s that time of the year again. We’re hopeful to leave bad habits and negative tendencies behind as the year changes. But we know it’s not easy.

Before you can drop two dress sizes, significantly reduce your spending or have a spotless house, you’ll go through anxious days and sleepless nights as your body and mind adjust to going outside what had been its comfort zone.

Let’s take a look at what people are trying to achieve this coming year through the Twitter hashtag #NewYearsResolutionsIWillKeep.

New Year’s resolutions can range from the fairly simple and doable such as:

It’s great to see people wanting to have a more positive outlook with these tweets:

While others want to filter their social circle of negative influences when they tweeted:

Then there are the classic resolutions:

 

 

 

And I really love those who are looking to greet the new year with gutsy moves:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why yearly resolutions are stressful

Whatever the goal you’re trying to achieve, New Year’s resolutions can be stressful when you attempt to do something grand and achieve it right away.

A life coach says that that the third through the eighth week after an attempted change can be the most stressful, as motivation wanes and challenges threaten to keep you off track.

As all of us who have repeatedly attempted (and failed) to achieve significant changes with each coming year can attest, it’s really difficult to kick habits. Especially if we’ve been having them for years, or since childhood.

 

Increase chances for success

So how do you at least give yourself a chance of keeping your New Year’s resolutions?

Don’t attempt big changes with no space for setbacks. The tendency for most people is if they fail once, they will likely abandon the goal. This essentially makes keeping resolutions an exercise in perfectionism and routine, which can be stressful or boring.

If you’d like to maintain resolutions with less stress, try reframing your goals. Do the following:

• Take small steps
• Allow yourself some wiggle room for mistakes or improvements
• Bounce back when you fail
• Build in rewards for your progress (however small it is)

If you persist, you will eventually see your labors bearing fruit.

I wish you much luck in aiming for a better you this coming year!

What are your New Year’s resolutions and how will you work to keep them?

 

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