All set for 2025

New Year means a fresh new start. It means you get a do-over, a change to right the wrongs and give your life the revival it needs for it to be more enriching and uplifting. We all make elaborate plans for the new year. We promise ourselves that this year we will live our best lives by doing all the things we have always wanted to do. Two weeks into the new year, we are struggling to keep up with the resolutions, have given up on quite a few, and, slowly but surely, falling back into our old ways.

Are we destined for another year of the same old cycle or can 2025 be different? We can’t do the same thing again and again and expect different results so get ready to deviate from your usual routine and style. We assure you, you will be able to stay on top of your resolutions this way.

Rule #1: Set realistic goals

Resolutions fail because they aren’t realistic. You can’t expect to lose five kilos in a month or wake up at 6:00 am and exercise for an hour every day if you haven’t been doing so for a long time. Sudden changes in your routine is only going to disrupt your lifestyle so make sure you are setting achievable goals. Instead of trying to lose five kilos in a month, aim for two kilos. If you are accustomed to waking up at eight, try getting up half an hour early for a few days and exercising for 20 minutes to start with.

Rule #2: Break down your resolutions

Oftentimes, our resolutions are too broad and not well defined. This makes them vague and open to interpretation and tweaks. It’s a good idea to break down your resolutions to actionable plans if you want to ensure you incorporate them into your lifestyle. Write down a step by step plan of your resolutions and approach them one at a time. For example, if your resolution is to read more, map out how exactly you are going to do that. Say you will read one newspaper article on day one, five pages of a book on day two and build up from there. The idea is to make bite-sized resolutions of your goals to ensure they get done.

Rule #3: Get a resolutions partner

Sharing resolutions with a friend or a family member is one way of making sure you both stick to them. For example, you want to learn a new language. If you have a friend who also has the same goal then you can take classes together and make sure you stick to it. You can hold each other accountable. If you want to go to the gym, a fitness buddy is sure to motivate you to wake up an hour early and exercise. If you want to eat healthy, then you can make a pact with your partner or parent to stop eating anything with added sugar in it for a month. Having a partner who shares the same resolution(s) as you will motivate you to be disciplined.

Rule #4: Be gentle and allow room for mistakes

The problem with resolutions is that we are too strict and make overly ambitious ones.

When you are making resolutions for the new year, allow room for mistakes. Don’t let one misstep make you give up on the goal altogether. Understand that you will falter and there will be hiccups. Just don’t let those stop you from continuing on your journey. If you skip a day at the gym, make sure you restart your fitness journey from the next day. Don’t let one mistake ruin your process. One of the main reasons why resolutions fail is because we allow no room for error. But being gentle with ourselves and giving ourselves multiple chances to do something is a better way to make a lifestyle change than being too rigid by leaving no room for mistakes.

Rule #5: Plan and start ahead

New Year resolutions start on January 1. And that is perhaps the worst thing we can do while trying to change our lives. We can’t expect to be a certain way and follow a particular schedule and then try to do a complete overhaul in less than 24 hours. It’s just not practical and possible. So, don’t wait until the last minute to make new year resolutions. Start a week or two early and take it slow. If you have waited till Dec 30 or 31 to make your resolutions, give yourself a week or two to ease into the new lifestyle. The key is to take things slow and ease into it rather than rushing into it and abandoning your resolutions mid way because they feel unachievable.