As 2022 approaches, you will be planning what you want to accomplish in the new year. Do you have New Year Resolutions planned and unsuccessful resolutions? Do you have any experience with the failure of your New Year Resolutions for only a few attempts?
I understand and I had been there, too. I made some New Year’s resolutions and gave up within 3 days. Every time I failed that, I felt a sense of shame that made me lose my motivation. Especially when it comes to health or workout resolutions.
So, today, let’s take a look at some of the ways you can achieve it without getting tired when planning your New Year’s resolutions.
How to achieve New Year Resolutions
Mind Set Matters -Intentional Mind
Before making your New Year’s resolutions and setting all your goals for 2022, here are a few things to keep in mind.
According to a health coach, for many people, weight loss or health-related goals are the most common New Year’s resolutions each year, but fewer than 25% of people who make these resolutions succeed in implementing them. This is usually because people are interested in goals that are too big to achieve.
If the goal is too unrealistic and the implementation methods are too limited, it is difficult to consistently implement it. You lose your enjoyment and you go back to your old habits.
Especially if you have goals like losing weight or getting fit, the first figure out why you want to achieve them. If you focus on the numbers on the scale without considering this, you are more likely to fail.
Think about why you want to lose weight. That’s probably why you want to be healthy, not lose weight. The reason I want to be healthy is to want to be happy.
It’s important to build your intentional mind before setting goals like this.
Develop new habits
There is a saying that it takes 90 days to form a new habit. It may be different for each person, but the practice that ends in three days quickly turns into an old bad habit. For your new resolution to become a habit, it is important to practice it consistently.
Instead of trying a lot of different things, make it a habit to focus on. To do that, you need to know the 3 properties of a habit.
1. The habit should be easy.
For example, let’s say you set a goal to eat a moderate amount of fruit each day. If you have fruit in your refrigerator or pantry, you’ll probably forget about it. Put the fruit on the table before bed. This is a very easy method that requires no extra work. By placing the fruit in a conspicuous place, you help form your habit.
2. Habits should be what you like.
I don’t like taking pills or supplements. So, instead of taking vitamins, I can achieve my health goals by consuming my favorite fruit every day.
3. Habits should fit into the lifestyle you want to achieve.
Each person pursues and lives a different lifestyle. It’s about creating a habit that fits your lifestyle. I often skip breakfast because I am always busy. But the habit of leaving fruit on the table has stopped me from going to work on an empty stomach.
As an example in my case, I looked at the properties of habits. Now, if you stick with this habit, record and check it so you can get closer to your goal at the time.
Write down ways you can get closer to your goal, and if one small action sticks out, add another.
For example, it may be a practice to put water in a tumbler instead of coffee and take it to work or put a 2L water bottle on the desk.
A decision to take the time to love yourself and keep it.
Keeping your promises to yourself is one of the most important things you can do. Often as a woman, playing the roles of housewife and mother, she tends to put the needs of others and family members before herself.
However, please be aware of it!
If you don’t love yourself, you can’t love others. Try to stick to the goals you set for this year, whether big or small.
To be honest, after returning from work and spending the evening playing the role of a wife and a mother, I am exhausted.
But keep in mind. If you don’t have time for yourself, you don’t progress. Take the time to love yourself (Self-care Time). Take a break, do yoga, read a book, de-stress meditation, or do a hobby you love, even if it’s a short trial every day.
Self-care habit challenge
New Habits challenge for New Year’s Resolutions
Now we know how important habits are to achieve your New Year’s resolutions. Now, how can we make New Year’s resolutions without failing?
Most people decide to eat better, exercise more, or spend less time on social media each January.
Did you find something missing here?
Yes, that’s right. Can you see that this decision won’t make successful?
Simply saying “I’ll eat better in the new year” is that I don’t have a concrete and realistic timeline.
Successful goals must be set by working SMART principles to plan.
S-specific, M-measurable, A-achievable, R-relevant, T-time line.
So, a few years ago, instead of making New Year’s resolutions, I started the 30-day habit-making challenge. I made a habit of one base each month, planned it, and put it into practice, instead of setting huge goals.
I’ve been challenging my lifestyle goals by adding actionable habits one by one. In this way, by forming a new habit every month, I stopped making broken resolutions for the new year.
2021, this is the monthly habit creation that I have been doing for the past year. After doing this, it has become a daily habit, except for a few things. It’s not a very grand habit, but I’m proud to see the footsteps of the year I’ve made to create a happy life.
You should try it too.
Self-care Journal and habit challenge
January: Make your bed every day.
Yes, it takes less than 5 minutes. It’s very easy. However, on days off or oversleeping, this habit may be skipped.
“Daily bed-making is a key habit that starts other good decisions throughout the day.” Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit
Making your bed every morning will help organize the rest of the room as well. A neatly arranged bed feels that the overall mood of the room is in order. You can start the day feeling refreshed with this rum. It also increases the productivity of the day.
February: Meditate for 10 minutes after waking up
I looked at myself years ago, the first thing I did every morning when my alarm went off was to scroll through social media or check my email on my mobile phone. It was a bad habit that I used as an excuse to say that the alarm was set on my phone.
How you spend the first hour of the day determines the mood for the rest of the day.
Every time I woke up, I checked my email, especially my work email, the stress and anxiety that came from that often increases.
So the method I have chosen was to meditate instead of looking on the phone. At first, I practiced guided meditation for 5 minutes at a set time. After getting used to it little by little, I increased it to 10 minutes and continue. Although it is a short time, it is to have time to fully focus on me.
March: Writing an audit journal.
The new habit I added following the Habits in February was writing a gratitude journal every day. After daily meditation, I wrote down three things I was grateful for for the day. It can be the same every day. But the goal was to get into the habit of being grateful for what you touch.
It may seem like a small habit, but its benefits should not be underestimated. I was able to find time to relax without getting angry over small things. I found myself looking for new things to add to my gratitude list throughout the day, as well as helping me start my day well.
April: Avoid processed foods.
This habit is on my list of challenges I will try in 2022 again. But the limited resolution to beat the 30-day habits pays off.
What I did for this habit was to exclude processed foods from my grocery list. It wasn’t difficult for my diet, but it was harsh for my family. In the case of my husband, he likes sausages and hams very much, so I had to finish my habit in 30 days.
May: Maintain a regular sleep schedule.
My initial goal was to go to bed at the same time every night. Sleep is said to be the cornerstone of health, but we often overlook its importance.
Different people may have different bedtimes depending on their lifestyle or job. It’s good to sleep at the same time every day and wake up at the same time, but even more important is getting the right amount of sleep.
I know, Health coaches may be skeptical of this, but the quality of sleep is more important to me than the length of time.
For this one habit, I recorded a sleep tracker. Sleeping for a long time hurts my back, so it was very important for me to have a moderate sleep habit. And looking at the record, I found myself sleeping for 6-7 hours regularly.
June: Walk at least 15 minutes a day
When was the last time you walked on the lawn? Of course, it’s a little hard to find greenery in the city, but in Australia where I’m from, you can get the feeling of stepping on the grass with the nearby small parks and gardens.
Living in such an environment, I neglected to go for a walk. So what I started was to walk barefoot on the lawn in the garden next to my company after lunch. I started walking meditation while feeling the leaves of grass touching my feet. These days, even on days off, I practiced this habit with my family.
It’s a short time, but you can get a refreshing effect in the afternoon.
If you want to know about mindfulness walking meditation, please read “MINDFULNESS WALKING MEDITATION – HOW TO MEDITATE WHILE WALKING”
July: Study at least 30 minutes a day for self-improvement
What do you want to achieve in 5 years? We strive to develop ourselves for long-term goals.
For self-improvement, you should always make a habit of studying. For example, there is a lot to learn while blogging. Take the time to learn those things. In my case, I have set the time to listen to lectures on online marketing for 30 minutes a day as a block time and practiced it.
To find out more about how to apply lessons from books to your action, please read “how to read non-fiction books effectively”
August: Do 20 minutes of yoga every day
August is winter in Australia, so it tends to shrink a lot. So in August, I started learning yoga as an exercise to increase body flexibility. It was to do 1-2 movements a day every day. As you know, I am not an active person or extrovert, I cannot exercise consistently. So I approached the goal of making a habit from easy to easy.
September: No shopping for a month.
I made a month of not spending anything except groceries or daily necessities. I checked my spending list every day.
If you use the household account book, you will find a lot of online shopping consumption. It is okay to make a month without unnecessary consumption for about a month a year. With these habits, you will reduce unnecessary habits and maintain a minimal and simple lifestyle.
October: Drink at least 2 liters of water daily.
This is a very natural habit, so I thought it would be easy to do. So, I recorded the amount of water I drink every day on a planner.
Surprisingly, I found myself unable to drink more than 2L of water. Even now, as a regular habit, I practice drinking water instead of drinking coffee.
November: Tidy up the house.
November is the month to focus on keeping the house in order. Classify, organize, and record daily, weekly, monthly to-dos with a house cleaning checklist. Of course, this is something I do all the time, but this time, I collect supplies to donate and send them to a donation group at the end of November. Donate books, clothing, etc.
December: Do one kindness a day.
Being kind to someone can sometimes be good for yourself.
Showing kindness positively affects both the giver and the receiver. Kindness can calm you down and increase your feelings of self-worth, and making you less anxious and depressed.
Do small acts of kindness around you, such as buying a coworker a cup of coffee at work, sending a thank-you letter to a friend, praising someone, or holding a door for someone, and write your thoughts down in a journal.
You will find a better you.
My final thought- Practice Intentional habits
So far, I have compiled a list of 12 new habit-making challenges as I head into 2021.
My main goal for 2021 was to look back on myself and fix my bad habits. Of course, not all 12 challenges were successful, but at least it wasn’t a decision that ended in 3 days. I’ve been doing it for at least 30 days.
What New Year’s resolutions do you guys make? Also, if you have the know-how to make a decision, please leave a comment.
habit challenge
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