Episode One: Rebellious Youth-6 Ways to Help Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions

6 Ways to Help Keep Your New
Year’s Resolutions

You have the best intentions of making change
in the new year, but let’s face it, change is
hard. Most New Year’s resolutions peter out
before the end of January. Here are some tips
from The Rebellious Youth  to give your
resolutions a fighting chance.

1. Be specific: It is much harder to know
what steps are necessary to create change
when the goals are vague. Instead of declaring
to get healthy, set your mind on exercising
four days a week. Instead of setting your goal
to be a more conscientious spender, make a
plan to create a budget and set aside $100 a
month for savings, or for a fun trip. Write
your goals down and the steps it will take to
get there. Having a road map makes the trip
less overwhelming.

2. Make it attainable: When the changes
are unrealistic, we just set ourselves up for
failure. Make baby steps that accumulate
towards bigger change. Don’t focus on losing
35 pounds. Focus on losing the first five, and
be sure to celebrate your success at each
milestone.

3. Track progress: This is how you stay
accountable to yourself. When you see positive
results, it encourages you to keep working
hard. When you see patterns of mishaps, you
have valuable data to help tweak your
approach.

4. Create an audience: Having a cheering
squad is a powerful motivator. For some it’s
the fear of public failure that allows them to
stay focused. For others they desire a public
victory. Having a partner working on a similar
goal is also a fantastic way to stay focused on
the prize while offering and receiving
encouragement along the way.

5. Anticipate mistakes: Many a resolution
has been thwarted by feelings of defeat over a
slip up. Note to self: “You are not going to do
this perfectly, and there will be setbacks.”
When we make space for imperfection, we are
much more likely to continue working hard at
the tasks at hand until we reach our goals. If
your plan is to eat five small nutritious meals a
day, and on the 5 th day you broke down and
ate a brownie, well you still ate 24 out of 25
meals healthfully, which is great progress.

6. Surf the urge: This is a mindfulness
technique created by Alan Marlatt that will
help you work through times of intense
craving. The task at hand is to recognize the
urge fully and then, without judgment, let it
be, without feeding or fighting it. When you
ride the urge, it becomes external to you and
easier to navigate. In a matter of minutes
(usually less than 30) you feel the intensity
dissipate, until it is over completely.