New Year is a great time to create resolutions to make your life better. However, it is very likely that most people will give up on their resolutions before January is even over. But don’t get discouraged. If you want to make better and healthier choices this coming year, here are 3 New Year’s resolutions you can make and how you can stick to them:
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This New Year, I will stop smoking and drinking.
Many have promised to stop smoking and drinking but only a few succeed. To help you stick to these resolutions, don’t quit cold turkey. It’s actually better to start with smaller steps, like cutting back on how many cigarettes you smoke or how many bottles of beer you drink every day. For example, if you’re used to smoking ten cigarettes daily, try cutting back to five. If you drink at least one bottle of beer a night, try cutting back to one bottle of beer every other night. Once you’re used to your new intake, try doing less and less until you lose your craving. It also helps if you identify your triggers. Do you drink or smoke more if you’re stressed? If so, find other ways to alleviate your stress like doing yoga, going for a jog, or taking a relaxing bath. If you have friends who also have these unhealthy habits, maybe you can team up with them and create a reward system for every time you don’t smoke or drink. Keeping each other in check will motivate you to stick to your resolutions until the end of the year.
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This New Year, I will stop eating junk food.
If eating junk food is your Achilles heel, the solution to this is meal planning. During the start of every week, plan each meal you’ll be having—breakfast, lunch, a snack or two, and dinner—and don’t make room for junk food! (Although one cheat day a week, where you can eat your favourite bag of chips or eat at a fast food restaurant, is totally acceptable.) Write down your meal plan or print it out, and then put it somewhere you can see, so you are reminded each day that you shouldn’t be eating junk food.
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This New Year, I will stop procrastinating.
With today’s busy lifestyle, everyone’s favourite bad habit is procrastinating. If you’re also stuck with procrastination, you can try keeping a bullet journal to keep track of your daily, weekly, and monthly activities. A bullet journal is an easy way of managing your time. It is very flexible, so you can change and personalize it as much as you want. Unlike traditional planners, you can also use this as a journal to take note of your daily highlights. It also gives you room to be creative, which actually helps to reduce stress and anxiety.
Creating small actionable steps will help you stick to your resolutions for the rest of the year. Avoid putting too much pressure on yourself because, often, it’s the pressure that makes people cave.
Just believe in yourself and you can do it.