New Years Resolutions

Happy New year!! It is hard to believe it is New Year’s eve and we are entering 2019! With New Year’s Eve and Day often come New Year’s resolutions. Depending on the source you look at, the most common New Year’s resolution categories include: get healthy (exercise more, lose weight, sleep more), save money/spend less, get organized, learn a new skill or hobby. There are so many resolution options and yes almost 90% of all new year resolutions fail. Hmmm wow that is a big percentage of people who are setting themselves up for failure when they are looking to start fresh and end up unsuccessful with their resolutions.

Why do so many people fail?

As we celebrate, we often feel that we get to start fresh with the beginning of a new year. We have goals or changes we want to make that may have not happened over the previous year. This is great as I am always about self-growth. But there are several reasons why people fail.

Lack of a plan. We all jump in head first on New Year’s day to our brand new improved resolution. It is exciting to get started and using this momentum to help you is a wonderful idea. However, you need a plan. If you are looking to get healthy – look at joining a gym, hiring a personal trainer or joining a health and wellness group. If you are looking to get more organized look at the different organization groups on social media or different books that exist. My favorite happens to be “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing”. I started it about halfway through the year last year and unfortunately just didn’t finish it. (I will explain why in a minute when I go through another reason resolutions fail). But this is a great book. You can find it on Amazon.

Time. This is the reason I didn’t finish my organization wishes last year. I just needed more time. Any change we make whether it is to work out more, to get organized, or learn a new skill or hobby, all takes time. Make sure you find consistent, realistic time in your schedule to tackle those New Year’s resolution goals. For me personally, I am trying to tackle one task at a time (batch work for my business, and following “the life-changing magic of tidying up” for organizing). The multi-tasking seems to result in me running around like a chicken with its head cut off all day long. So when you set a resolution, build the time into your schedule to accomplish this resolution.

Have an accountability partner! Let’s talk about a way to help you reach any of your new goals and resolutions. Have someone who is doing it with you! It can be your significant other, a family member or best friend. Have someone there to make sure you are staying on track and motivated. Check in with each other to make sure you are both doing what you are supposed to to reach your goals. Find a workout partner, personal trainer, or a friend who wants to organize their lives and declutter as well. It is proven that if you have to stay accountable to someone other than yourself, you are more likely to get it done!

Be realistic. Let’s set ourselves up for success not failure. If you set unrealistic goals you are not going to be successful. And that is frustrating. You are going to be frustrated with yourself and not feel positive. When you feel like you are failing and not succeeding you are more likely to give up on the tasks you are trying to accomplish. So pick a New Year’s resolution and then sit down and break it down into realistic steps that you can meet in a realistic time period.

Financial constraints. Don’t put yourself in dept trying to accomplish your New Year’s resolution. Want to lose weight or get healthier? Find a program that works for you and meets your financial means. Need to get more organized? Hit up the dollar store for your bins…they have great ones!!

Unrealistic goals. We all do it – I know I do it on a regular basis. I set unrealistic goals for myself and then get frustrated that there is no way for me to accomplish them. I take on too many resolutions with an unrealistic time period for myself. Hopefully, writing this blog will help me not only decide on realistic resolutions but also create realistic timelines. In fact I have already started one of them – decluttering and organizing. Here’s to hoping I can finish this resolution this year (I have tried this particular resolution in the past and have not been successful) now that I have a different realistic plan in place.

Feel free to share your New Years Resolutions with us! And follow KB Healthy and Fit on Pinterest – I have a whole board on organizing.

Above all else find things that make you happy. It takes time and work but it is good for all of us to have a chance to start fresh and make a change.

Happy New Year to all of our friends and family. We hope 2018 was wonderful as you reflect on the year. We hope that even with the ups and downs, there were more happy moments than sorrow, and those that had sorrow, heartache or frustrations, feel stronger as a result. May 2019 be full of strength, love and cheer.