Success on New Year’s resolutions comes from measured steps

New Year’s Resolutions are a tradition that goes back 4,000 years to the Babylonians who were the first to hold new year celebrations and to make resolutions, which were promises to their gods so that they would earn good favor in the new year. 

Modern day New Year’s resolutions tend to focus on things like losing weight, exercising more, saving more money and learning a new skill. However, by February more than 80 percent of people have given up on their resolutions, and only 8 percent actually accomplish them.

With results like this, how do you become one of the successful 8 percent? According to most researchers, resolutions fail because they are lofty goals without any actual steps to achieve them. So only pick one really important resolution and two secondary ones. Turn these into goals and work them like you would any goal you want to achieve.

Write the resolutions down and post them somewhere visible. Share them with friends and family so that you become accountable. Set milestone markers that help you achieve pieces of the goal each month. Do something every day to work toward your resolutions. If you don’t make any progress in a month, don’t quit completely; just start up again as soon as you realize you aren’t moving forward.

Keep track of your progress. By seeing all of the progress you are making, you are going to want to continue achieving your resolutions and they will become a habit that you are now incorporating into your life. With these steps in mind, look back at your resolutions and begin writing them down. You can definitely be one of those that achieves your resolutions!