Happy new you! Three tips to make that new year's resolution stick

Happy new year! I don't suppose there's ever been the start of a year so many people around the world have looked forward to quite so much.

One thing hasn't changed, though. It's pretty much guaranteed that many of us have set ourselves new year's resolutions - to quit smoking, to stop procrastinating, to learn a language, to lose weight, to cut down on the drinking, to get fit...

Well, there's bad news and there's good. The bad news is that most new year's resolutions are quickly abandoned. (Gyms are very happy about this. They get loads of new memberships in January, and by February most have stopped going - but can't bear to terminate their memberships and admit they aren't going to do it.) That's the bad news.

The good news is that you can vastly increase your chances of making your new year's resolutions stick with three fairly simple tips. Here goes...

TIP ONE: PICK ONE!

Because New Year is when so many of us decide we're going to make changes, we can make the mistake of trying to tackle everything at once. That's nuts! Think of your willpower as a resource. If you try and do six different things, you are dividing your resources into six things. Result: you don't get to focus on anything in particular, and you fall in a heap.

Instead, pick one. Just one. Nothing succeeds like success, and when you start making progress in one area of your life, you'll be encouraged and feel positive. So, that's the advice, and it couldn't be simpler: pick the single thing that you know will make the biggest difference in your life. Tackle that one, and you're off and running.

TIP TWO: OUTSOURCE YOUR MOTIVATION!

So often I see clients who say, 'I'd love to get fit and lost a bit of weight. But I lack motivation! Can you help me find the motivation to want to do it?'

It sounds sensible, doesn't it? Most of us recognise that there's a connection between MOTIVATIONand BEHAVIOUR. - but most of us get it completely backwards! Instead of MOTIVATION driving BEHAVIOUR, actually it's the other way round. Nothing increases motivation than building a habit, and the best way to build a habit is not to spend time, money and effort trying to 'increase your motivation,' but instead to... just get on with it.

The very best way to 'just get on with it' is to OUTSOURCE YOUR MOTIVATION. Imagine two scenarios:

SCENARIO ONE: it's early in the morning and you're tucked up in bed, trying to summon up the MOTIVATION to jump out of bed, get down to the gym and get going.

SCENARIO TWO: It's early in the morning and you're tucked up in bed, knowing that your fitness trainer will be at the gym, waiting for you to show up. You've paid already, and you know she's full of positivity and encouragement, but would be very disappointed if you didn't show up (without good reason, of course).

Now... Hands up who reckons that the you in SCENARIO TWO is more likely to be in the gym at the appointed time than the you in SCENARIO ONE? Of course you are! You've OUTSOURCED YOUR MOTIVATION.

TIP THREE: HANG OUT WITH YOUR FUTURE SELF!

Where do people who go to the gym hang out? That's right - in the gym! Where do non-smokers hang out? That's right - INSIDE at the restaurant, not OUTSIDE!

Surround yourself with people who have the same goals as you, and you're far more likely to achieve them. If you're the only smoker, you're far less likely to smoke. If you are the only NON-smoker, you're far more likely to cave in.

If you surround yourself with quality people, you'll find yourself in a much better place to achieve what you're after. Conversely, if you hang around with the people you're trying NOT to be like, you can guess what will happen...

If you have a new year's resolution you're keen to make work for you in 2021, get in touch. Together we can put in place the strategies to help you achieve your goal, and ensure that you're fully focused on getting there.