How To Create Highly Effective New Year Resolutions – 5 Essential Things

It’s a brand-new year! With every new year, we all have the same desire. We want to be better than what we were last year. We love to see progress within ourselves. New Year Resolutions help us achieve this much-desired progress.

By now, most of us have a list of resolutions. Do our resolutions serve us as a whole? In this article, I discuss 5 essential things to consider while choosing resolutions. I have included my sample resolution list at the end for reference. 

1. Behavior Change = Identify Change

Habit Expert, Author James Clear talks about true behavior change being an identity change. 

With resolutions, we are trying to change our behavior. We want to shed the ones that no longer serve us. We want to change into something we want to become. This could be a lifestyle change. 

According to the author, “You need to ask yourself what kind of identity do you want to become.”

As we craft our resolutions, we should think if they are helping us become the person we want to be. 

In my case, I want to be a writer. I would like to have a Healthy Mind & Body. A Peaceful Life. My list serves each of these areas. 

2. Picking Resolutions That Serve Your Whole Body

A wholesome resolution list serves every aspect of you – Your Mind, Your Body & Your Soul. We can find true balance when we care for each of these areas. 

Every person’s list of what suits them is different for each area. My focus for the year is based on the areas below:

The Mind – Daily Meditation, Meaningful Connections with Loved Ones, Purposeful Work

The Body – Planned Nutritious Meals, Movement Every Day

The Soul – Writing, Listening to Inspiring Podcasts, Reading, Alone Time

3. Prioritize What Serves You The Most

You may need to evaluate your list depending on your phase of life. What worked for you last year may not be able to serve you this year. It helps to reflect on your previous year. You may find that one area needs more weightage over others. 

Your current goals and life experiences can help guide your resolution list. My focus for the year prioritizes my goals for my family as well as my health/career. 

4. Keep The List Realistic

It’s essential to keep your resolutions realistic. Finishing a marathon may be unrealistic if you haven’t worked out in years. It’s not impossible, but it takes a lot of discipline and new habit formation. 

I have seen success when we start small and scale up. Dr. Rangan Chatterjee, author of Feel better in 5, talks about one of his patients in his podcast. His patient couldn’t get to the gym because of distance and other life reasons.

To make it simple for his patient, Dr. Chatterjee gave him a 5-minute workout that he could do at home each day. This was something to which he could commit. As time went on, he increased the workout duration and created a lasting habit.

If we can build habits gradually that will lead to our long-term goals, there is a better chance of success. 

5. Reflect/Re-adjust based on experience

Our plans sometimes work differently than expected. Life hurdles and physical/emotional limitations make it hard for us to stick to our plans. In cases like these, re-assessment is unavoidable. 

We can use experiences/learnings to readjust our plan. We can take a break and come back to it. All changes are ok. We just need to keep coming back to the plan. 

In my case, I found it hard to pick up the habit of writing every day. It can be discouraging to write a certain number of words each day. So instead, I decided to show up each day. Open my journal, even if it means just saying good morning. Then, I can scale up as needed rather than not show up at all! 

Keeping resolutions, creating new habits, and breaking old bad habits can be challenging. All habit experts say that willpower gets weak over time. The system/plans you make to achieve a particular goal are important.

Habit best-seller books such as Atomic Habits and Tiny Habits help us create new habits and better understand habit psychology. I wish you all the success with your habits in the new year.