5 Tips on Keeping Resolutions and Goals

Start achieving your goals! These 5 tips will set you up for the inevitable success.

The always hilarious, entertaining, and informative vegan chef extraordinaire, Jason Wrobel, is here to help you keep those resolutions this year. As a health expert and keeper of goals, he is well-qualified to share these top five tips to make it past the first five days of the year and beyond. Most of us start really strong and then fall off the wagon over and over again until we give up completely. Sound familiar?

Your resolutions don’t have to follow this old pattern, so you can have the happiest, healthiest, most abundant year yet. Here are the tips.

1) Get a Solid Answer to “Why?”

Why do you want to lose those extra pounds? Why do you want to make more money? Why do you want that promotion at work? Why do you want to quit that habit? Why do you want to be healthy? Really establish a clear reason behind what you want to accomplish, and you will stay on track, especially if you attach your goal to a passion.

2) Start Gradually and Work Your Way Up

Many people jump all in with a new goal. That’s admirable, but terribly wrong if you want to stick with it for more than a few weeks. You’re burning yourself out by dropping all the foods you love or going fulltime to the gym for a week straight. It just isn’t sustainable or practical for long term success. Start slow, paying attention to your body, and push just a little beyond your comfort zone. That’s the best place to start.

3) Set Realistic, Attainable Goals

It would be nice to go from making $50,000 one year to a solid 5 million the next or go from overweight and lethargic to an Olympic athlete, but it isn’t very realistic. Lofty goals create a mental barrier between you and success. A part of you will always doubt you’ll get there. Incremental goals are much more practical and achievable. Go for that 10% raise and then another one after that. Lose ten pounds and then set a goal to reach the next benchmark. Hit those marks and create new goals as soon as you do. That is the best way to actually reach those lofty goals in the end.

4) Develop a Positive Support Community

Online or in person, you will do better at all those mini-goals along the way if you have a cheering section. Going it alone leaves you isolated, unsure, and easily discouraged. Work with people who have similar goals to uplift one another and carry the load that any great resolution will create. Move forward together and learn as a community.

5) Get Back on that Wagon

You are going to fall, misstep, trip up, and make plenty of mistakes along the way. That’s normal. Get back on the wagon again and again and again, as many times as it takes to reach the goal you set. Persistence, determination, and patience are your friends who will get you where you want to be. This isn’t a sprint. Take it slow and enjoy the road, but know that if you truly want something, you can get there with enough time and effort. Never forget to have compassion and love for yourself. Forgive the falls and keep moving forward.

Bonus) Have Fun!

Life is meant to be fun. Don’t be so deathly serious about your goals or resolutions. Laugh often. Enjoy your life while you’re living it.

Stay motivated after you make those goals!