New Year resolutions are strange things. We make these promises to ourselves at the end of every year and most of them have been broken by February. Resolutions can come in many forms and it’s different for all of us. According to the research, the most popular resolutions we make are to lose weight, travel more, be more financially responsible and generally be a better, less stressed person.
So, here comes Captain UnCOVered to rescue your New Year’s Resolutions before you’ve had a chance to break them.
Tip 1: Make your resolution as detailed as possible.
Many people make a resolution like ‘lose weight’, ‘travel more’ or ‘learn a new language’, which are all well and good, but they are rather vague and easily broken. So, let’s do this properly. If you want to lose weight, how much? By when? How do you plan to do this?. UnCOVered’s own JimE has set his NYR as ‘to lose two stone by the end of May by eating less junk and exercising more.’ Sounds simple but by adding those additional items, it makes it more targeted and measurable. Make sure you really know what it is you want to achieve.
Tip 2: Create an action plan
This is getting serious now… but your action plan doesn’t need to be colour co-ordinated or be a spreadsheet with multiple tabs (although it can be both of those if you want), but the ‘how’ is very important to sticking to a resolution. If you say you want to ‘learn a new language’, how do you plan to do this? Are you going to take a class? Use an online training tool? What language do you want to learn and to what level? Are you going to visit a country that uses this language to help hone your skills?
Tip 3: Set yourself measurable goals
A New Year’s Resolution should have one final outcome that’s measurable. This way you can say for sure whether you have achieved it or not. If you want to ‘travel more’, what does that mean? Do you want to take three more trips than you did last year? If so, by when? The one piece of advice to add on this one is to make sure your goals are attainable. Don’t say you plan to take 9 trips this year to a country you haven’t visited before… unless you think you can actually do it.
Tip 4: Have targets along the way
Similar to the last tip, another way to help you achieve your resolution is to have regular check-ups to see how you’re getting on. So, if your resolution is to ‘travel more’, set yourself a target to book your trip, plan your itinerary, learn some useful phrases in the language etc.
Tip 5: Set an end date
Have a definitive end date, even if it’s for the 31st December 2019. This will help you to employ tips 2 and 3. If you have an end date in mind, it gives you something to strive for. If your resolution is to ‘see your friends more’, say you want to catch up with each of your friends at least once before March, or if there is just one friend in particular you’d like to see more, say you want to see that friend 5 times before May, for example.
There are our tips for being successful with your New Year’s Resolution(s) in 2019. Good luck with whatever you decide to go for. If you want to, let us know what you’re New Year’s Resolution will be and how you plan to achieve it in the comments below or via social media using #UnCOVeredResolutions2019.
