15 Tips to Help You Stick to Your New Year’s Resolutions

Raise your hand if you’re one of the many people who enthusiastically make a list of New Year’s resolutions with the best of intentions, but by mid-February struggle to remember what those goals even were.

The reasons people don’t stick with their resolutions are as varied as the goals themselves. Still, it’s often a matter of mindset and planning more than anything else.¹ Here are some tips to help.

1. Set Clear and Specific Goals

Resolutions sometimes fail because we set a goal that isn’t actually meaningful or valuable to us, but we’ve been influenced to believe that it should be.² Setting a vague resolution (“lose weight” or “eat better”) is often a sign that we haven’t thought deeply about whether or not a goal is actually important to us, or if we feel like it “should” be.

You’re more likely to stick to your resolution if it’s based on a goal that is motivating and important to you.² If you’re struggling to see the value in achieving that goal, it’s not likely you’ll be inspired to consistently keep working at it.

See if you can write down at least one or two reasons why you want to make this resolution and set aside some time to reflect on whether those reasons feel true to you. A goal that has the potential to make a real impact on your life is one you’re more likely to work to achieve. 

2. Break Your Goals Into Steps

It’s tempting to get swept up in the enthusiasm of a fresh start to a new year, but the American Psychological Association recommends focusing on starting small and tackling one behavior or action at a time.³ 

Divide your goal into milestones that represent a large step towards completion. If your goal is to write a novel in a year, for example, your first milestone might be to create an outline. Next, break each milestone into smaller steps using action verbs. In this example, you might need to “research,” “write” and “edit.” Keep breaking each step into manageable actions to create a positive cycle of momentum. 

3. Create a Plan

Setting a meaningful, concrete goal is a great first step. Unfortunately, the plan to make it happen won’t materialize from nothing. Some people find it helpful to create a step-by-step plan or timeline to help meet their goals and maintain momentum.⁴ A bullet journal, mood board or productivity app can be a good way to get your thoughts out of your head and where you can see them.

You can also formulate a cue-based plan, which associates the habit or behavior you’re looking to change with a signal. A goal to “read more books” is undefined and vague. Revise that to “I’ll read one chapter before bed three times per week,” and you may have more success. 

4. Track Your Progress

Many people don’t want to monitor their progress because they’d rather avoid the negative feelings associated with falling short of a goal. Keeping track of your progress, however, provides real-time data on what’s working or what isn’t and allows you to strategically adjust your plan for better success.² Keep track of your progress with an app, spreadsheet or journal for accurate results.

5. Stay Realistic

Everyone makes mistakes, everyone experiences failures and everyone has the opportunity to start over. There will be slip-ups, but it’s OK to call a do-over.²

Review your “why,” make any necessary adjustments to your plan or the goal itself and get back in the game when you’re ready.²

6. Build New Habits Gradually

Like the tortoise who wins the race in the familiar fable, fix your mindset on achieving your goal one steady step at a time. It takes time for a habit to become second nature to you.⁵ 

Solidifying new behaviors requires an understanding that change takes time. Build positive momentum by setting a realistic timeline and making gradual progress with small steps along the way.⁵

7. Find Support

It’s classic advice because it’s effective: We get by with a little help from our friends. Let your family and friends in on your goals and your game plan, and ask for their support in helping you stay motivated and accountable.²

Likewise, whatever your goal may be, it’s likely there is a community of people with similar goals to support you in your pursuit. Find those birds of a similar feather and join their flock, where you’ll have the opportunity to share your struggles and successes.³

8. Use Reminders

Writing down a goal on paper or on your phone to make it visible can serve as a reminder.⁴ Personalize your approach and experiment with reminders that work for you. Some people find success scheduling reminders in their devices or calendar apps. Others prefer the visual of a sticky note or a handwritten list. Try using a physical object as a prompt. For example, place your vitamins next to your toothbrush, a filled water bottle on your desk or a meditation cushion in a prominent spot to cue the desired behavior. Use reminders as an aid, like training wheels, while you work to create a habit loop that eventually becomes automatic.

9. Reward Yourself

You don’t have to wait until you’ve achieved your goal to pat yourself on the back. In fact, rewarding yourself incrementally when you accomplish smaller steps along the way can provide the motivation and momentum to keep going. Change is a process of many steps taken one at a time; remember to acknowledge and celebrate along the way.⁴

10. Be Patient and Flexible

You’ll inevitably encounter hurdles along the way, but your plan should leave room for mistakes so that obstacles become bumps in the road rather than obstructions that derail you. Forgive yourself as you would a friend and keep going.² Stay positive and focus on what’s working and acknowledge that your journey may take a different route than what you had originally planned. 

11. Visualize Success

“Whether you think you can, or you can’t, you’re right,” Henry Ford famously quipped. Our thoughts have the ability to influence our behaviors in powerful and profound ways. In other words, your thoughts matter.⁶ 

Visualizing yourself executing a new habit creates a clear mental picture of success, which activates the same neural pathways as actually performing the behavior. This mental rehearsal builds confidence, making the habit feel more attainable and familiar. By regularly picturing yourself completing the habit, you prime your mind and body to follow through in real life.⁶

12. Eliminate Temptation

When you identify specific situations or cues that trigger old behaviors, you make it easier to interrupt the cycle and choose a better response. Acknowledge your triggers, then plan ahead to avoid certain environments, set boundaries, replace negative cues with positive ones and decide what your response will be should you find yourself facing a particular challenge.⁵

Removing some temptations altogether, like clearing junk food from the pantry or silencing notifications, reduces the need to exercise constant willpower. 

13. Focus on the Positive

We’re often our own harshest critics and speak to ourselves with words we’d never say to a loved one or a friend. Instead of mentally beating yourself up over a misstep, acknowledge that mistakes happen, plans get derailed and life goes on. Perfection is unattainable.³ Try flipping the script: Instead of viewing a setback as a reason to give up, identify what went wrong and see it as a learning opportunity.¹

Doing something difficult is a chance to remind yourself that you can do hard things. Look at your progress tracker to see how far you’ve come, then show yourself some kindness and remember that you’ve got this.

14. Establish a Routine

Let’s be honest: There can be some monotony associated with forging a new habit. The wash-rinse-repeat cycle that’s inherently part of pursuing a goal can feel like an overwhelming chore, and it can be tempting to skip it altogether.

Try connecting the work at hand to something pleasurable, like listening to a favorite podcast while working out or allowing yourself 10 minutes of social media surfing after completing your task. Letting yourself enjoy the process can help increase your chances of sticking with your resolution.

Likewise, take the decision-making out of the equation and make your new habit part of your daily routine by scheduling it on your calendar or prioritizing it on your daily to-do list.⁵

15. Reflect Regularly 

Focus on developing a growth mindset, which is a belief that we’re capable of learning, evaluating and adapting our circumstances to improve outcomes. Take time to examine which aspects of your plan are working and which are not, and see if you can determine what factors are influencing either outcome.²

Does your goal fit with your lifestyle as it is right now? Are you equipped with the right strategy to achieve your goal? Do you need to adjust the goal or your method of achieving it for a better outcome. Learn from past mistakes and alter your course when necessary.¹

Turning Resolutions Into Reality

New Year’s resolutions don’t have to fade away by February. With the right mindset, intentional planning and steady follow-through, lasting change is absolutely possible. By setting meaningful goals, breaking them into manageable steps, tracking progress and staying flexible, you can create a solid foundation for success. Remember: Progress, not perfection, is the goal. Give yourself grace, stay consistent and don’t be afraid to adjust your approach along the way.

Lasting transformation can happen when you combine thoughtful strategy, strong support and a belief in your ability to change.

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Author Bio

Anne-Marie Kennedy is a freelance writer with more than 20 years of experience covering health and wellness, personal finance and real estate/investing.