We are in that awkward week between Christmas and New Years. A serious holiday hangover always gets us thinking... does a new year = new me?

The beginning of a new year is the classic time to start fresh, drop bad habits and pick up healthy ones. We set a few resolutions for Blume 2020 too. You can read all about them here.

While we support changing up things that aren’t working for you, we just want to add a caveat. Remember to be kind to yourself in the process. New year’s resolutions are not a requirement. They also don’t mean anything is wrong with your life today. Gratitude and appreciating the journey are huge parts of healthy goal setting. We challenge you to set goals that are about loving where you are today instead of wanting to change yourself.

Resolutions aren’t about finding a new thing to beat yourself up over. Kindness first people, especially for yourself. Not keeping a resolution isn’t a failure. Trying something, assessing your needs and updating priorities is admirable. Not meeting your resolution 100% of the time, but moving in that direction is amazing, don’t let anyone tell you differently.

One way or the other, new year's resolutions have become the go-to way to establish and announce those goals (even if they’re not actually said aloud or written down). Of course, we all know these resolutions are much easier to make than to actually keep. In fact, researchers say about 60 percent of us make new year’s resolutions but only about 8 percent are successful in achieving them. GASP! For those of you on the resolution journey, we want to support you! So we have put together a wee list to set up for success. Here are a few tried and tested methods:

 

Be realistic

While it’s always important to dream big (big encouragers of that here), it’s also important to be practical. Think realistically when setting your goals and consider your previous experience(s) with any unmet resolutions. What led to their failure? Remember that there will always be more opportunities to take on the next phase.

Don’t overcommit

While you might have a long list of potential new year’s resolutions you’d like to see yourself accomplish, it’s actually best to just choose one to focus your energy on. We get it. You want to eat healthy, save some cash AND rescue three new puppies. But taking on too much and spreading yourself too thin can make follow through hard.

Start with baby steps

Similarly, don’t expect results right away. Dramatically changing up your routine and swinging on the spectrum may just end up in burn-out and your plans getting totally derailed. Instead, focus on taking baby steps that will ultimately help you reach your larger goal. Break up your goals into three or more steps and tackle one at a time. Write them down and be detailed in how you want to accomplish them. Just like any project, understanding what's involved will help you get to that finish line.

Get support

You heard it here first – the buddy system actually works. Gather up a solid support team and make sure they know what your resolutions for the new year are. Lean on them to support and keep you motivated. Better yet, enlist the help of others by joining a group that shares your goal. We published our goals to hold us accountable to our community, but just telling a friend that you are managing your caffeine, could mean they don’t ask you for coffee.

Treat yourself

When making your plan, it’s always important to work in how you’ll reward yourself at important milestones. This is the fun part. Treat yo’self!