August 11, 2021

How Are The New Year’s Resolutions Coming?

By Alex Parlette
Mental Health & Wellbeing

Welcome 2021 and a new year! One common tradition that comes with a new year are new year resolutions. It is always great to start a year with goals or resolutions for what they would like to be able to do or achieve for the year. It is common to make dieting goals, physical fitness goals, reading goals, or other self-care goals. A lot of people seem to be very motivated at the beginning of the year, but then a month or two months in, they get left in the dust.

We are a month into 2021, how are your goals/ resolutions going now, a month later? A lot of people always ask how they can stay motivated to continue with their new year’s resolutions or ask why they did continue them. Today I want to talk about staying motivated so that we can keep up with our goals and continue strong through the next few months, and throughout the rest of the year.

Realistic Goals

First, before taking a look at your motivation, did you make your original goals/ resolutions realistic and achievable? I am not saying that you should make them easy to accomplish, but you also don’t want to make them unrealistic. For some people who like to read, it can be nice to make a resolution to read 100 books in a year. Now this is a great goal, but depending on your schedule and other life circumstances reading 2 books a week can be too hard and isn’t realistic. Instead of setting unrealistic goals, you should look at changing them slightly in order to make them attainable and something you can progressively work towards!

Motivation

Now, staying motivated for a whole year can be difficult, especially if you are doing this resolution on your own. One of the best ways to continue to stay motivated to achieve your goal and resolution is to have someone to do it with – a person who can keep you accountable and check up on your progress and vice versa. For someone who makes a resolution to lose 30 pounds this year, which again, is a great goal, it can be really helpful and encouraging to aim to achieve that goal with someone alongside you. In this way, you can push each other towards reaching that goal and hold one another accountable. Try to find a friend and family member who would be willing to go to the gym with you, go on runs with you, or go on bike rides with you. Whatever you are doing, try to find someone who can work with you on achieving your goal and help encourage and motivate you throughout the year.

Therapy

Another great idea for staying motivated is to share your goals/resolutions with a therapist I work with a lot of clients who tell me their resolutions so that I can continually check in with them on how they are doing, and the progress they are making Talking with a therapist can also help insure that you are making your resolutions realistic and attainable.
If you are currently not in therapy, I highly recommend looking into it! You do not have to be in crisis to start in therapy.

There are so many great things that can come out of being in therapy that can be helpful and useful when different stressors do come up in life, so this could also be a great time to start! Our therapists here at Optimum Joy would love to work with you towards reaching your goals. Give us a call today!

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Written By

Alex Parlette

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