How to Make Sure Your New Year’s Resolutions Stick

Most people make some New Year’s resolutions with the aim of improving their life over the course of the year. However, it is easier said than done to keep these resolutions for the whole year! Read on for ideas on making sure your resolutions stick beyond February.

Choosing a health resolution

Health Resolutions

Losing weight is often a health goal of many people. Other health goals include improving fitness, taking more exercise, ensuring we undergo those important health checks and stopping smoking. All of these things will improve our health, but which should you choose?

The first tip is to pick only one resolution to focus on. If you try to stick to too many resolutions, you are less likely to achieve them. Channel your energies into sticking to one important resolution each year.

Setting a specific, achievable goal

Keep It Specific

You should also try to plan. Don’t pick a resolution on New Year’s Eve and expect to stick to it. Your goal needs to be well thought out and achievable. Use the SMART goal setting method, which advises keeping goals specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-bounded.

Don’t pick a general resolution that everyone makes. It is useful to keep it as specific as possible. So instead of just ‘lose weight’, your resolution could be ‘lose six pounds by March 1st’. The more specific the resolution is, the easier it is to focus on.

You should try to break down your goal into a series of smaller steps, which always makes it seem less daunting. Give yourself a small reward when you reach each new mini-goal in order to keep your motivation up and remind yourself how far you have come.

Making sexual health a priority

Sexual Health

One resolution could be to improve your sexual health. This means always using contraception and insisting on barrier contraception with a new partner. It is also vital to get yourself tested for STDs. You can buy chlamydia testing kits in London, such as the chlamydia testing kits in London available online at Chlamydia Testing kits in London available online at greenwichsexualhealth.org. These allow you to check your sexual health in the privacy of your home.

The New Year is a great time to think about making positive changes, and your health is perhaps the most important area of all. With some prior planning and a slow and sensible approach, you should be able to achieve your health goals this year.

Summary

This article gives tips for making New Year’s resolutions stick, recommending focusing on just one goal, using the SMART method to make it specific and measurable, and breaking it into smaller steps with small rewards along the way. It also suggests sexual health as a resolution area, including using contraception consistently and getting tested for STDs.

Questions this article raises

• How many resolutions can someone realistically keep at once?
• What’s a good small reward for hitting a mini-goal?
• How often should you get tested for STDs if sexually active?