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How To Stick To Your Resolutions and Goals All Year Long

The new year has come, and we’re now weeks into 2021. We all made our New Year’s resolutions and goals for this year, but creating them is the easy part. Staying committed and sticking to your resolutions and goals all year long is much harder.

You may have created a resolution for yourself to work out more and eat healthier. Or maybe you created a goal to start working toward a new career by going to school and getting a degree. Whatever your goals and resolutions are for 2021, there are things you can do to help you stay focused and working toward your goals all year long. Check out our top tips for staying committed to your goals this year!

Create a Plan Just for You

What works for someone else may not be best for you. You need a plan designed for you and your goals. The first thing to do is create specific goals. So, if your New Year’s resolution is to work out more, how many times per week are you going to work out? What specific workouts are you going to do? When are you going to exercise? Are you going to work out at home or a gym? Answering these questions will help you create a specific plan for your resolution.
Copy of Goals

They say it takes 21 days to build a habit and 90 days to build a lifestyle. This really means that when you are trying to build a new habit, every time you do this new thing, it gets a little easier, and before you know it, it’s a lifestyle, and you’re a natural. Exercising will be hard at first if you have not done it in a while. You will be sore afterward and may get tired quickly. But as you continue to work out, you build endurance and muscle, and it gets easier because you get better as you go.

When we try to better ourselves with resolutions and goals, it can be tempting to try and tackle everything at once. But having too many resolutions can actually work against you. It can be overwhelming to try and change too many things at a time, which leads to giving up and throwing in the towel. If you pick your top three and really focus on those, you will be more likely to reach them. The trick is to start small and build up to your larger goals by breaking them down into smaller steps.

In today’s world of technology, there is an app for everything. If your goal is to exercise more, using an app to help you plan and track your workouts can help you stay focused. If your goal is to eat healthier, using an app to track your meals can help you better understand what foods have more benefits than others. If your goal is to save more money, using a budgeting app can help you track your spending, so you know where your money is going and can cut back if needed.

Choose Progress Over Perfection

Change is a process, and nothing great happens overnight. The Statue of Liberty was not built in one day, and the Mona Lisa was not painted in one night. Great things take time, and that includes your goals and resolutions. If your goal is to start working toward a new career by enrolling in school, realize that you are making progress toward your goal with every class you attend and every exam you take. It will take time to finish your degree and graduate, but when you do, you will be ready to achieve your goal of starting a new career.

While we all want things to be perfect, waiting until the exact perfect moment to do something often means that it will never get done because there never is a perfect moment. Things will never be exactly right, but if we want to move toward our goals and dreams, we have to jump and take the leap of faith.

Perfection doesn’t really exist; it’s just something we strive for that keeps us doing the same thing over and over again. For example, if you are trying to become a vegetarian, and you slip up and eat meat one day, that doesn’t mean you failed. Take note of what made you do this, and then try the next day again using what you learned to stay on track. Failure is not really failure if we learn from it and then do better next time. This literally changes failure into progress because when you do this each time, you’re getting better and better as you go.

Staying focused on your New Year’s resolutions and goals can be a challenge. It’s exciting initially, but as time goes, the excitement wears off, and motivation goes down. So how can we keep ourselves motivated all year long? There are a few great ways to do this. First, give yourself rewards for staying the course and continuing to work toward your goals. For example, if you’re going to school to start a new career, maybe you reward yourself with ice cream every time you pass an exam. Secondly, giving yourself daily affirmations to inspire you to keep going can be very powerful. If there are certain words or quotes that inspire you, put them where you will see them each morning when you first wake up. This can be a sticky note on your mirror or a notification on your phone!

A third way to stay motivated is to know your why. Remind yourself why you want to accomplish these goals and resolutions. What is driving you to improve your life? Maybe you want to start a better career for your family. Maybe you want to show your children what’s possible when you work hard toward your goals. On days when you get off track or want to give up, remembering your why can help keep you focused and committed.

Get Support of Family and Friends

The support of the people around you can literally make or break your goals. If you have a strong support network of family and friends, you are more likely to stick with your resolutions and achieve them. Also, finding a mentor or someone who is already where you want to be can accelerate your path toward reaching your goals because they can share tips from their own experiences with you. The key here is to purposely create this network of positive influence. Create your team of cheerleaders to motivate you along the way, and remember, it’s always okay to ask for help when you need it.

Another great option is to find an accountability partner. Maybe someone you know has the same New Year’s resolution that you do. Partner up with them to help keep each other motivated and on track. Schedule time for daily or weekly conversations to check in on each other and see how the other is doing. Having someone to talk to who is going through the same thing as you can make a huge difference!

Reach Your Career Goals With United

Now that you’re inspired to keep working toward your resolutions and goals all year long let United Career Institute be here to help you! If you want to get started in a new, exciting career in the healthcare field, we’ve got you covered! Explore our healthcare programs in Practical Nursing, Medical Assisting, and Medical Billing and Coding, and request information today to get started!