For the last 5 years my buddy Stephen Buzzi and I have had a bet going into the new year, that each other won’t complete the new year’s resolutions which we make in December. As you will probably know form experience, most of us make plans to completely change or improve our lives in the coming year, be it our health, our jobs or our overall happiness, and by the end of January we have usually failed. The idea behind the bet then was to incentivize us, and for the first 3 years, neither of us won. The last two years have been very different however and so I wanted to share with you how I go about ensuring that I complete my resolutions for the new year.

Short and Simple

The first step is to ensure that you don’t go crazy with your resolutions, I try to stick to making just 3. In the past I would have a list as long as my arm about the things that I wanted to change, and as a result I became overwhelmed with just how much would have to change. The best bet therefore, is to make 3, relatively simple, and achievable resolutions, to inspire you to complete them. Another option is to make 2 simple resolutions, and one slightly more difficult, this way you can be inspired by completing the first two, making the third that little bit easier.

Start Early

More often than not there is a certain hangover that you get on the 1st of January, either a hangover from the party the night before, or a general hangover from the holiday season. With this in mind I like to start working on my resolutions before the new year begins. Doing this means that come the 1st of January, you have already got underway with your resolutions, and it makes continuing them far easier.

Make it Known

Peer pressure is a great way to ensure that you complete your resolutions and this is why I make sure that I tell my close friends and family what I am planning to do. For example if I decide that I am going to lose some weight in the new year, and tell nobody, then no one will care if they see me with a doughnut or a burger, if I let everyone know however, I avoid such thing because I know that everyone will see me fail. Try to make your resolutions public so that you can be even more motivated.

Failing

If you fail on your resolution, even a little bit, don’t give up and return to where you were beforehand, instead, make sure that the very next day you get right back on track. Change is not easy and you need to allow yourself to fail before you succeed, giving up altogether will make no sense at all so get back to your plan as soon as possible.